Dornbirner Ach

47°18′26″N 9°46′04″E / 47.307357°N 9.767816°E / 47.307357; 9.767816 • elevation1485 m Mouth Lake Constance47°29′55″N 9°40′31″E / 47.4985°N 9.6754°E / 47.4985; 9.6754385 mLength29.9 kmBasin size223 km²Basin featuresProgressionRhine→ North Sea

The Dornbirner Ach (also called Dornbirner Ache) is a 29.9 km (18.6 mi) long stream in Vorarlberg, Austria, and a tributary of Lake Constance (Bodensee) and the Rhine, respectively. It flows through two gorges in its upper part, the Alploch Gorge and the Rappenloch Gorge.

Course

The river's source is located in the mountains near the alpine village of Ebnit [als] (Dornbirn). Downstream, the river flows through one of the largest and most gorgeous gorges in Central Europe, the Alplochschlucht [ceb; de; sv] (English: Alploch Gorge) and Rappenlochschlucht [ceb; de; sv] (English: Rappenloch Gorge), which are separated by a small reservoir lake (Staufensee). Further downstream, the river cuts through the town of Dornbirn and then meanders off over a broad meadow landscape, the Lauterach Ried [de] in the Alpine Rhine Valley, finally flowing into Upper Lake Constance.

The mouth of the river was originally near Fussach, but since the straightening of the Alpine Rhine, it flows parallel and quite close to the latter into Lake Constance near Hard.^[1] Its mouth lies west of the Bregenzer Ach.

Some of its tributaries are the Kugelbach, Bruderbach, Spätenbach, Gunzenach/Kobelach and Schwarzach.

Gallery

• 
  Alploch Gorge
• 
  Staufensee
• 
  Rappenloch Gorge
• 
  Dornbirn
• 
  Bridge near the river's mouth

See also

• Bregenz Forest Mountains
• Rivers in Austria

References

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