Sinn (river)

Sinn
The Sinn where it enters the Franconian Saale
Location	Hesse, Bavaria,  Germany
Reference no.	DE: 2448
Basin features
Main source	near Oberwildflecken c. 671 m above sea level (NN) 50°23′07″N 9°58′14″E / 50.385194°N 09.970417°E / 50.385194; 09.970417Coordinates: 50°23′07″N 9°58′14″E / 50.385194°N 09.970417°E / 50.385194; 09.970417
River mouth	near Gemünden into the Franconian Saale c. 154 m above sea level (NN) 50°03′39″N 9°41′28″E / 50.06083°N 09.69111°E / 50.06083; 09.69111
Progression	Franconian Saale → Main → Rhine → North Sea
River system	Rhine
Basin size	623.78 km2[1]
Tributaries	Left: Oberbach, Mittelbach, Trockenbach, Mitzbach, Röthbach, Kretzengraben Right: Ziegelhüttengraben, Disbach, Höllgraben, Leinbach, Krechenbach, Schmale Sinn, Gronaubach, Jossa, Aura, Fliesenbach
Physical characteristics
Length	61.06 km
Discharge	Minimum rate: Average low: 1,174 l/s Average rate: 5,869 l/s

The Sinn is a river that flows through the state of Hesse and the Bavarian province of Lower Franconia in southern Germany. It is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and is a right, northerly tributary of the Franconian Saale.

Course

The Sinn emerges in the Franconian Rhön at the foot of the Kreuzberg near the local subdistrict (Gemarkung) of Neuwildflecken. At Zeitlofs on the Hessian-Lower Franconian border it flows into the Schmale Sinn which joins it from the Dammersfeldkuppe to the northeast.

Accompanied in places by the Würzburg−Fulda railway and crossed by the A 7 motorway bridge below Riedenberg, the Sinn initially flows in a southwesterly and then in a southerly direction to Gemünden, where it joins the Franconian Saale just under 700 m before the latter river discharges into the River Main.

Tributaries

The tributaries of the Sinn include (in downstream order): Oberbach, Schmale Sinn, Gronau, Jossa and Aura.

Towns and villages

The towns and villages along the Sinn and Schmale Sinn include (in downstream order):

Sinn

Wildflecken, Oberbach, Riedenberg, Bad Brückenau, Eckarts-Rupboden, Zeitlofs, Altengronau, Jossa, Obersinn, Mittelsinn, Burgsinn, Rieneck, Schaippach, Gemünden, (Oberzell).

Schmale Sinn

Kothen, Speicherz, the A 7 Grenzwald Bridge, Oberzell, Weichersbach, Mottgers

Nature

The existence of the extremely rare snake's head fritillary in the Sinn Valley has been recorded since the 19th century. This plant occurs at heights between 160 and 250 metres in various meadow communities, especially in the wet meadows of the two nature reserves that border one another: the Sinngrund near Obersinn and Sinnwiesen von Altengronau.

References