Queich
Encyclopedia
The Queich is a tributary of the Rhine, which rises in the southern part of the Palatinate Forest, and flows through the Upper Rhine valley to its confluence with the Rhine in Germersheim
. It is 52 km long and is one of the four major drainage systems of the Palatinate Forest along with the Speyerbach
, Lauter
and Schwarzbach
. The Queich flows through the towns Hauenstein
, Annweiler am Trifels
, Siebeldingen
, Landau
, Offenbach an der Queich
and Germersheim.
. There are also benches and a foot baths.
and Rinnthal
, where it meets its largest tributary, the Wellbach. It then flows past Annweiler am Trifels
, where it meets its second largest tributary, the Eisbach, which begins at the confluence of Eußerbach and Dernbach.
After about 20 km the Queich valley opens up in Albersweiler
towards the Rhine valley. Here the hilly landscape of the Palatinate Wine Route begins. The Queich crosses under the German Wine Road in Siebeldingen
. It reaches the city of Landau
in a suburb named Godramstein. Here it reaches the open plains of the Upper Rhine valley, after about 30km, and takes up the Birnbach from the right.
At the Ottersheim
weir some of the water is diverted into the right distributary Spiegelbach
, which flows south-east via Bellheim
to Sondernheim. The main branch of the Queich flows north-east and reaches the Rhine in the northern part of the city of Germersheim
.
for a very long time. From the 13th century onwards, the Queich was also used for timber rafting
. Timber rafting peaked in the middle of the 19th Century. However, timber raftinf required an adequate water flow; splash dam
s were constructed to ensure this. However, while a splash dam is operational, the mills below it lack the water the need to run. When the timber rafting had completed, the splash dams would be torn down. Water was then abundant, but this often resulted in flooding the mill canals, and sometimes the mill canals were damaged by stuck logs. In 1881 finally managed to make the timber rafting stop altogether. Since 1881, the water is only used to drive the mills, except for one aper mill] in Sarnstall, who use the water for their manufacturing process, and release the polluted water back into the river.
Vauban in 1688-1691, during the War of the Palatine Succession. As part of this project, the Albersweiler Canal was dug, a 12 km long navigable canal, connecting Landau to the quarry
at Albersweiler. The canal ran parallel to the Queich and was fed with water from the Queich. The canal was abandoned in 1874. However, many traces of this oldest artificial waterway in Germany remain, for example the locks
, with which the river water was diverted into the canal.
in the 1740s, the French forces constructed the Queich Line, a line of fortifications between Landau
and Hördt
on the left bank of the Rhine. Even today, some earthworks can be found in the Hördt Forest along the Spiegelbach
.
were shifted to the north by about 2 km at some time in the past, perhaps already in the Middle Ages
. The reason may have been that timber rafters needed to shift the confluence with the Rhine into the town of Germersheim.
and Landau
, runs since 1875 along the Queich between Hauenstein and Landau. The nearest railway stations are Offenbach an der Queich
and Ottersheim
, where the Queich only flows through the northern end of the municipality, without touching the settlements further south.
The federal road B10 also runs along the Queich between Hauenstein and Landau. Below Landau, the Queich flows through wide meadows and Bellheim Forest. This area is at best accessible using secondary roads.
For bicycles, the well-developed road network of the Queichtalradweg had been created. It follows the entire course of Queich from the source to its mouth.
Germersheim
Germersheim is a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are Speyer, Landau, Philippsburg, Karlsruhe and Wörth.-Coat of arms:...
. It is 52 km long and is one of the four major drainage systems of the Palatinate Forest along with the Speyerbach
Speyerbach
TheSpeyerbach is a left tributary of the Rhine in the Palatinate part of Rhineland-Palatinate. In Speyer, the river split into Gießhübelbach and Woogbach...
, Lauter
Lauter (Rhine)
The Lauter is a river in Germany and France, left tributary of the Rhine. Its length is 55 km. It is formed by the confluence of two headstreams north of Hinterweidenthal in the Pfälzerwald, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Schwarzbach
Schwarzbach (Blies)
The Schwarzbach is a river in southwestern Germany, left tributary of the Blies. Its source is in the Palatinate Forest, near Trippstadt. It flows through the states Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. Towns along its course are Waldfischbach-Burgalben, Contwig and Zweibrücken...
. The Queich flows through the towns Hauenstein
Hauenstein
Hauenstein is a municipality in the Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Palatinate forest, approximately 20 km east of Pirmasens, and 20 km west of Landau....
, Annweiler am Trifels
Annweiler am Trifels
Annweiler am Trifels, or Annweiler is a town in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Queich, 12 km west of Landau, and on the railway from Landau to Pirmasens....
, Siebeldingen
Siebeldingen
Siebeldingen is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
, Landau
Landau
Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...
, Offenbach an der Queich
Offenbach an der Queich
Offenbach an der Queich is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Queich, approx. 6 km east of Landau....
and Germersheim.
Source
The Queichquelle is located 3 km south of the municipality of Hauenstein at an altitude of almost 400 m on the eastern slope of the 463 m high mount Winterberg. It is taken surrounded with hewn stones from the typical local red sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. There are also benches and a foot baths.
Course and tributaries
The Queich first flows as a small stream north through Stephanstal valley to Hauenstein. There, it turns east and moves in large arcs through the Queich valley. It flows past WilgartswiesenWilgartswiesen
Wilgartswiesen is a municipality in Südwestpfalz district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
and Rinnthal
Rinnthal
Rinnthal is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany.During the Revolution of 1848, the town was the setting for a battle between Prussian army troops and Palatinate revolutionary forces who were resisting the invasion....
, where it meets its largest tributary, the Wellbach. It then flows past Annweiler am Trifels
Annweiler am Trifels
Annweiler am Trifels, or Annweiler is a town in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Queich, 12 km west of Landau, and on the railway from Landau to Pirmasens....
, where it meets its second largest tributary, the Eisbach, which begins at the confluence of Eußerbach and Dernbach.
After about 20 km the Queich valley opens up in Albersweiler
Albersweiler
Albersweiler is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Annweiler am Trifels .-Middle Ages:The village was first mentioned in 1065...
towards the Rhine valley. Here the hilly landscape of the Palatinate Wine Route begins. The Queich crosses under the German Wine Road in Siebeldingen
Siebeldingen
Siebeldingen is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
. It reaches the city of Landau
Landau
Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...
in a suburb named Godramstein. Here it reaches the open plains of the Upper Rhine valley, after about 30km, and takes up the Birnbach from the right.
At the Ottersheim
Ottersheim bei Landau
Ottersheim bei Landau is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
weir some of the water is diverted into the right distributary Spiegelbach
Spiegelbach
The Spiegelbach is a river in the southern Palatinate. It arises as a diversion of the Queich, which rises in the Palatinate forest, and thus has no separate source...
, which flows south-east via Bellheim
Bellheim
Bellheim is a municipality in the district of Germersheim in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is situated west of the Rhine, approx. 13 km east of Landau and 15 km northwest of the city of Karlsruhe...
to Sondernheim. The main branch of the Queich flows north-east and reaches the Rhine in the northern part of the city of Germersheim
Germersheim
Germersheim is a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are Speyer, Landau, Philippsburg, Karlsruhe and Wörth.-Coat of arms:...
.
Mills, drift wood and paper industries
The hydropower of the Queich has been used to drive millsMills
Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to:*Mills , a common family name of English or Gaelic origin*Mills , a fictional British secret agent created by Manning O'Brine*Another name for the board game Nine Men's Morris...
for a very long time. From the 13th century onwards, the Queich was also used for timber rafting
Timber rafting
Timber rafting is a log transportation method in which logs are tied together into rafts and drifted or pulled across a water body or down a flatter river. It is arguably the second cheapest method of transportation of timber, next after log driving...
. Timber rafting peaked in the middle of the 19th Century. However, timber raftinf required an adequate water flow; splash dam
Splash dam
A splash dam was a temporary wooden dam used to raise the water level in streams to float logs downstream to sawmills. By impounding water and allowing it to be released on the log drive's schedule, these dams allowed many more logs to be brought to market than the natural flow of the creek allowed...
s were constructed to ensure this. However, while a splash dam is operational, the mills below it lack the water the need to run. When the timber rafting had completed, the splash dams would be torn down. Water was then abundant, but this often resulted in flooding the mill canals, and sometimes the mill canals were damaged by stuck logs. In 1881 finally managed to make the timber rafting stop altogether. Since 1881, the water is only used to drive the mills, except for one aper mill] in Sarnstall, who use the water for their manufacturing process, and release the polluted water back into the river.
Albersweiler Canal and fortress of Landau
The city of Landau was expanded to a fortress by MarshalMarshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Vauban in 1688-1691, during the War of the Palatine Succession. As part of this project, the Albersweiler Canal was dug, a 12 km long navigable canal, connecting Landau to the quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
at Albersweiler. The canal ran parallel to the Queich and was fed with water from the Queich. The canal was abandoned in 1874. However, many traces of this oldest artificial waterway in Germany remain, for example the locks
Locks
Locks may refer to*Lock, a fastening device*Locks of hair*Dreadlocks, matted coils of hair, known as locks*Lock , a device for transferring vessels between bodies of water of different levels...
, with which the river water was diverted into the canal.
Queich Line
During the War of the Austrian SuccessionWar of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
in the 1740s, the French forces constructed the Queich Line, a line of fortifications between Landau
Landau
Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...
and Hördt
Hördt
Hördt is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
on the left bank of the Rhine. Even today, some earthworks can be found in the Hördt Forest along the Spiegelbach
Spiegelbach
The Spiegelbach is a river in the southern Palatinate. It arises as a diversion of the Queich, which rises in the Palatinate forest, and thus has no separate source...
.
Shift of the lower reaches
Recent research results suggest that the lower reaches of the Queich near ZeiskamZeiskam
Zeiskam is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
were shifted to the north by about 2 km at some time in the past, perhaps already in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The reason may have been that timber rafters needed to shift the confluence with the Rhine into the town of Germersheim.
Transport
The Queichtalbahn, the regional connection between PirmasensPirmasens
Pirmasens is a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It is famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed Südwestpfalz....
and Landau
Landau
Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...
, runs since 1875 along the Queich between Hauenstein and Landau. The nearest railway stations are Offenbach an der Queich
Offenbach an der Queich
Offenbach an der Queich is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Queich, approx. 6 km east of Landau....
and Ottersheim
Ottersheim bei Landau
Ottersheim bei Landau is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
, where the Queich only flows through the northern end of the municipality, without touching the settlements further south.
The federal road B10 also runs along the Queich between Hauenstein and Landau. Below Landau, the Queich flows through wide meadows and Bellheim Forest. This area is at best accessible using secondary roads.
For bicycles, the well-developed road network of the Queichtalradweg had been created. It follows the entire course of Queich from the source to its mouth.