Emme (river)
Emme at Schüpbach, community Signau
Your name probably goes back to the Gallo- Celtic word Ambis ( = river, lat amnis ).
Geography
It rises in the area between Hohgant and Augstmatthorn in the canton of Bern directly on the border with the Canton of Lucerne. The 80 km long Emme flows through and is eponymous for the Emmental and ends in the so-called Emmenspitz below Solothurn into the Aare.
Hydrology
The catchment area of the river Emme 983 km ² in size. The average discharge at the mouth is about 20 m³ / s The maximum water flow is up about 650 m³ / s ( 663 m³ / s on 8 August 2007, station Wiler, Limpachmündung )
The Emme is known that it can cause tidal waves right in the Emmental during lightning storms in the headwaters. The story " The Water Crisis in the Emmental " by Jeremias Gotthelf describes very impressively the largest known flood of 13 August 1837. This and other flood meant that in the 19th century channeled the Emme over long distances and both sides dams were piled up.
The main tributaries are the Ilfis that Urtenen and Limpach.
Industrial canals in the lower reaches
At its lower reaches the Emme is used industrially since the 19th century. With a weir at Biberist (SO) their water is taken and fed into the power canal, whose narrow cross-section leads to a high flow rate. Since the beginning of the 20th century so that several small hydroelectric power plants in operation, which supply adjacent industries such as the paper mill Biberist or feed into the public grid. In the 19th century, prior to electrification, the channel was the drive of transmissions of the paper Biberist and the former textile mill Schoeller in Derendingen.
In addition, there is another industry channel that drained just before the mentioned Biberist native weir in the river Emme, whose waters, however, comes not only from the Emme, but also from various streams around Utzenstorf (BE). You will also be transformed by channeling in a fast flow, which today supplies small power stations of the paper mill and the steel mill Utzenstorf Gerlafingen. The latter covered and also covers water requirements in part from the channel.
Swell
- Anne -Marie Dubler: Emme in the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
- O. Birkner: The Emmekanal