Schmalkalde

The Schmalkalde in Schmalkalden after snowmelt

The Schmalkalde is a 25 km long tributary of the Werra in the Thuringian district Schmalkalden- Meiningen, the first flows from the southwest slope of the Thuringian Forest to the south to in Schmalkalden to change its course to the west and to culminate in Niederschmalkalden from the right in the Werra.

Origin of the name

The Schmalkalde to its name coming from the word stems schmala - received a cold river in a (mostly ) dell - dell and Kalta - cold water.

Course

The Schmalkalde rises in the headwaters Haugraben ( l) and Heisterbach trench ( r) in the Thuringian Forest at about 720 meters above sea level on the eastern slope of the 831 m-high cold heath, three and a half miles southeast of the Big Island mountain. The term Long Bach and Cold water it flows as a small stream in first direction southsouthwest after Kleinschmalkalden.

In its upper part it was for centuries a border river and awarded the town Kleinschmalkalden in Gotha or Thuringian and Hessian part of Schmalkalden. The supporting now its final name Schmalkalde continues to flow in a southerly direction over Hohleborn, Seligenthal and Reichenbach to reach the core city of Schmalkalden in Weidebrunn in the north. There you flowing to the spring water of karst source conversation Inge. After the union with her by far the largest tributary, the silence in the inner city area it is addressed increasingly in a westerly direction towards the Werra from. Here the river passes through the district of Aue to continue over central Schmalkalden and Niederschmalkalden eventually lead under a sandstone spur at the border waiting Todenwarth into the Werra.

Tributaries

The subjects of Schmalkalde represents the third such larger compartments system that Werra flows in its course righthand side of the Thuringian Forest from. This, however, is only about half as large as the below opening out of lock systems and hazel. Also, the Schmalkalde, apart from the lower water content at the location of the mouth only about a third of silence from, recognized the dominant main flow of their system, whereas distributes the load at lock and hazel on several, more or less equal arms.

Below is an eastward ordered clockwise from the west lineup that also takes into account higher order inflows. For an order in the direction of flow of the Schmalkalde the table is to arrange according to watercourses indicators ( DGKZ ).

History and characteristics

The Schmalkaldequelle is mentioned in 1330 in a letter issued in Schmalkalden purchase ( Frankenstein shear sales letter ), where first appeared the Rennsteig as Rynnestig.

The Schmalkalde already possessed in the Middle Ages a huge economic importance as the driving source based in Schmalkalden and in the surrounding towns mines, iron and steel processing artisans and cutting, paper and grinding mills.

Until the seventies of the 20th century led flood levels to irregular annual flooding of the corridor and parts of the city.