Wutach River

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This page is about the river called Wutach. There is also a municipality called Wutach

Map showing the course of the Wutach and its relation the Rhine (Rhein) and Danube (Donau)

The Wutach is a river in the land of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is formed in the southern part of the Black Forest by the confluence of two smaller rivers, the Haslach and the Gutach, near the town of Lenzkirch. The larger of the two is the Gutach, which flows out of lake Titisee; the largest of the streams feeding the lake is the Seebach, which rises near the peak of the Feldberg, the highest point in the Black Forest, and this is usually taken as the ultimate source of the Wutach. On this basis, the total length of the river is 90.2Km.

From the confluence where the river acquires the name Wutach, it flows ESE through a deep gorge (the Wutachschlucht) which has long been a tourist attraction. On exiting from the gorge, near the village of Achdorf in the municipality of Blumberg, it takes a sharp turn (known as the Wutachknie or Knee of the Wutach), and subsequently flows SW to join the Rhine near Tiengen in the town of Waldshut-Tiengen. At the Wutachknie the river is very close to the headwaters of the Danube and it is thought that in an earlier era the river may have been part of the Danube catchment.

The stretch of the Wutach valley just below the gorge is the site of a remarkable railway, officially known as the Wutachtalbahn but commonly known as the Sauschwänzlebahn (pigtail) because it proceeds in a series of tight turns, including crossing back over itself, in order to make a substantial increase in height without exceeding a 1:100 gradient.

The name Wutach means "Furious water", referring to the whitewater flow through the gorge. Wut is recognisably cognate to a modern German word for anger; ach, which forms part of the names of many rivers in the region, comes from an old Celtic word for water, cognate with Latin aqua.

v • d • e Tributaries of the Rhine

From the left	Vorderrhein · Thur · Töss · Glatt · Aare · Birs · Birsig · Ill · Sauer · Lauter (Wieslauter) · Queich · Speyerbach · Rehbach · Isenach · Eckbach · Eisbach · Pfrimm · Selz · Nahe · Moselle · Nette · Brohlbach · Ahr · Erft

From the right	Hinterrhein · Landquart · Ill · Dornbirner Ach · Bregenzer Ach · Argen · Schussen · Radolfzeller Aach · Wutach · Murg · Wehra · Wiese · Elz · Kinzig · Rench · Acher · Murg · Federbach · Alb · Pfinz · Kraichbach · Saalbach · Neckar · Weschnitz · Modau · Main · Wisper · Lahn · Wied · Sieg · Wupper · Düssel · Ruhr · Emscher · Lippe · Oude IJssel/Issel · Berkel · Schipbeek