Aitrach (river)

The bifurcation of the mill stream in summer. The water left is fed via the Aitrach the Danube, the water right to the Schleifebächle and across the Wutach finally the Rhine.

The Aitrach is a right tributary of the Danube in the south-western Swabian Alb, here also called Baaralb, in Baden- Württemberg. Your source area provides a hydrological oddity: The Aitrach does not have a source, but arises from a Flussbifurkation and from a little further south Pseudobifurkation.

Course

The Aitrach begins in a broad east-west running Talung east of the city Blumberg, which is called Blumberg gate because of the flanking striking mountains.

One of the two bifurcations is located on the mill stream at Blumberg bleach directly on the B 27, the left branch can be seen as the beginning of the Aitrach, the right branch is delivered to the Schleifebächle that tumbles west of Blumberg in a steep canyon to Wutachschlucht. The natural drainage verliefe between the two artificial channels and bottomed out in the second bifurcation of Aitrach source area.

This bifurcation is located on the Talwasserscheide between the Rhine and Danube, which crosses the wide valley of the Blumberg gate in almost exactly 700 meters. Here, the Blumberg Ried fills the valley floor, and the central drainage ditch flows just west of the crossing B 27, first imperceptibly slowly in both directions off as loop Bach to Wutachschlucht and as Aitrach the Danube. Since the Talschotter the mill stream percolating groundwater Aitrach the loop Bach ditch only entree diffuse through the peat of Ried and shares no running water here, it is called a pseudo - bifurcation.

The Aitrach flows with very little gap continues in a northeasterly direction. The width of the trough decreases east of Blumberg gate of 650 m to 300 m now. Of the alluvial fans of tributary streams the Aitrach is repeatedly urged by a side of the valley to the other. In Kirchen-Hausen, a district of Geisingen, they first cross the A81 and then flows into the Danube.

On the southern side of the valley Aitrach follows the route of the Wutachtalbahn which is operated by the so-called ring pull, and on the west of the station Customs House Blumberg ( immediately south of Aitrach source area ) heritage railway operation takes place as Sauschwänzlebahn known section.

Formation and precursor

In today's Aitrach flowed to Wutach distraction that took place before at least 20,000 and at most 70,000 years ago, the so-called Feldberg Danube, which was the headwaters or source of ancient Danube River over several hundred thousand years. The Feldberg Danube flowed through earlier a broad valley, which is now available in sheet-like gravel terraces high above the Wutachschlucht. It buckled not like today's Wutach west of Blumberg south to the river system of the Rhine from, but continued to flow in a northeasterly direction through the Aitrach to Geisingen.

Up until about 3 million years ( younger Pliocene ) followed with the Aare- Danube an even more powerful current of the line of today's Aitrachtales. It ran intermittently from the upper Rhone along today Aare, contrary to the lower Wutach and slightly to the north parallel to the present Aitrach and Danube Valley. As the whole area raises to today's upper Danube since over 10 million years, one finds the Talschotter this stream today on the plateau of the Swabian Alb, whereas the remaining water is deepened accordingly and formed the present valleys.

Tributaries

• Mühlengraben ( left part amount of water Hauptquellast )
• Mühlbach (left)
• Gereutgraben (right)
• Compromise Bach ( right)
• Length trench ( left)
• Homberg trench ( right)
• Breitentalbach (right)
• Kiltelgraben (right)

Fauna

In the Aitrach grayling, trout and chub occur.