Rivers in Frankfurt am Main

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The coat of arms of Frankfurt passes under the Ignatz-Bubis bridge

By Frankfurt runs as a main stream and federal waterway of the Main , in the - from the Wetterau coming - the Nidda flows. There are also over 25 other streams and ditches in the urban area . Over time, many structures such as bridges , mills , locks , weirs and ports have been built on the waters .

Main

Frankfurt's main river is the Main. It was through him that Frankfurt came into being and grew. It flows through the city in an east-west direction, dividing it into a northern and a southern part (in Frankfurt : Hibbdebach and Dribbdebach = this and that side of the brook).

Districts on the Main

Sachsenhausen Main riverbank in autumn

The Main reaches the Frankfurt city area at river kilometer 46.5 in the height of the Mainkur . Until below the Offenbach barrage at river kilometer 38.5, the Talweg forms the city limit between Frankfurt am Main and Offenbach am Main . From here the Main flows through the Frankfurt city area to river kilometer 21.8 in the Höchst industrial park . Further downstream, it forms the city limit to Kelsterbach to river kilometer 19.8, where it leaves the Frankfurt city area.

On the banks of the Main (in the direction of the river; neighboring communities in brackets):

Left bank Right bank
( Offenbach am Main ) Fechenheim
Ostend
Upper wheel
Sachsenhausen
Downtown
Old town
Downtown
Bahnhofsviertel
Gutleutviertel
Niederrad
Schwanheim
Griesheim
Nied
Maximum
Sindlingen / Höchst
( Kelsterbach )
Sindlingen

Main bank

The Main in downtown Frankfurt
Nice on Untermainkai

On most of the over 26 kilometers of river in the city, the banks are open to the public. Only in the area of ​​the east port and the river port Gutleutstrasse on the right bank and in the industrial park Höchst on both banks are the riverside paths interrupted. The Main Cycle Path is signposted on the left bank . Part of the banks of the Main, especially in the area of ​​the Main arc in the east and the Schwanheimer Düne and the Wörthspitze in the west, belong to the Frankfurt Green Belt landscape protection area . But also outside of it, large parts of the banks of the Main with their promenades and green spaces serve as recreational areas. Some former industrial areas have been redesigned since the 1980s, for example the former slaughterhouse for Deutschherrnviertel and the Westhafen, which was abandoned in 1995 .

On the approximately four-kilometer section between Deutschherrnbrücke and Main-Neckar-Brücke , the Main crosses the densely built-up Frankfurt city center. A brick deep quay with a continuous, approximately 30-meter-wide green area, the Mainuferpark, runs on both banks . The traditional names of the individual sections of the deep quay come from the time of rafting , when these bank walls were used as landing stages . These are on the Sachsenhausen shore

The deep quay below the Theodor-Stern-Kai between Friedensbrücke and Main-Neckar-Brücke was built in 2002/2003. He has no name.

The right bank of the Main is also secured by quay walls between the Osthafen and Westhafen:

  • Ruhrort shipyard between Honsellbrücke and Deutschherrnbrücke, after the important inland port of Ruhrort
  • Wesel shipyard between Deutschherrnbrücke and Ignatz-Bubis-Brücke , to the city of Wesel on the Lower Rhine
  • Fischerfeldwerft between Ignatz-Bubis-Brücke and Alter Brücke, after a swampy depression on the banks of the Main that existed here until the end of the 18th century,
  • Fahrorwerft am Mainkai , Frankfurt's oldest port and berth, after the Fahror gate that was demolished in 1840
  • Leonhardswerft between Eisernem Steg and Untermainbrücke, after the Leonhardskirche and the Leonhardstor
  • Nizzawerft am Untermainkai , after the Nice green area (Frankfurt am Main)
  • Antwerp shipyard above the western harbor, after the port city of Antwerp

The quay walls in the east port bear the names of the Rhine ports, namely Duisburg shipyard , Uerdinger shipyard , Neuss shipyard , Cologne shipyard , Mainz shipyard , Ludwigshafen shipyard , Karlsruhe shipyard , Mannheim shipyard and Strasbourg shipyard , and in the west port Rotterdam shipyard and Amsterdam shipyard .

Flood protection

While the Tiefkais and the green areas will be flooded with a water level from about 3.70 meters and serve as flood drainage areas that are Hochkais in ports and inner-city areas and a flood of the century sufficient. Only at the Mainkai , the lowest part of the old town, is a flood area designated, which must be secured against flooding by mobile protection systems in the event of an exceptional flood. Outside the inner city area there are larger green areas that can be flooded during floods.

Main crossings

Iron Bridge

Main article: List of Main crossings in Frankfurt am Main

In the area of Frankfurt's Old Town, a retired limestone barrier through the Main, as part of the Berger back to the Sachsenhausen hill running geological soil . In the otherwise swampy Main Plain, criss-crossed by numerous watercourses, it provided good access to the main stream and a ford passable for people and carts . Already in Roman times , several Roman roads converged in the branch on the cathedral hill , which used the opportunity to cross the river. According to the archaeological findings, it is unclear whether the Romans built a bridge or only used the ford. What is certain is that the Franks , who have ruled the area on the Untermain since around 530, used the ford as an important trade route, which their trading partners therefore named Frankenfurt .

It is uncertain when the first solid bridge was built over the Main in the Middle Ages; The oldest documented mention of the Main Bridge dates from 1222. Today there are nine bridges in the city ​​center . If you include the bridges in the outer districts, you come across 21 bridges and walkways .

Only in 1848 was followed by further west in today's Gutleutviertel for the railroad , the second Main bridge, the bridge of the Main-Neckar-Bahn . It was converted into a road bridge in 1890 and rebuilt as the Peace Bridge in 1950 . The Eiserne Steg , built as a pedestrian bridge in 1868/69, has become a Frankfurt landmark. The second road bridge in downtown Frankfurt was the Untermainbrücke, which was built from 1872 to 1874 , followed by the Obermainbrücke (today Ignatz-Bubis-Brücke ), which was built from 1876 to 1879 .

There are two barrages at the same level as the Griesheim and Ostend districts - the Griesheim barrage and the Offenbach barrage . In addition, two tunnels connect the city ​​center with Sachsenhausen: In 1984 the first and so far only underground tunnel under the Main was opened, six years later the city ​​tunnel for the S-Bahn was added.

Ferries

Main ferry Walter Kolb near Höchst

There is only one Main ferry left in the city, the Höchst Ferry Walter Kolb , which translates from the Höchst old town to Schwanheimer Unterfeld and which has only transported people and bicycles since the Leunabrücke opened .

Until the 1960s there was a ferry service with a passenger ferry between Fechenheim and Offenbach-Bürgel . In addition, there was a ferry connection with a carriage ferry between Sindlingen and Kelsterbach from 1864 to 1974 . Since 1906 it was developed as a high-wire yaw ferry. After a ship collision on November 8, 1974, operations were stopped because the construction of the Sindlinger Main Bridge (opened in 1978) was already planned.

In the east bordering town of Maintal there are two car ferries, the Rumpenheim Main ferry between Bischofsheim and Offenbach-Rumpenheim and one between Dörnigheim and Mühlheim am Main .

On the western edge of the city there is a passenger ferry between Okriftel and Kelsterbach. The ferry service of the Main ferry Okriftel takes place on weekends and public holidays in the summer months.

Ports

West harbor

Main article: Ports in Frankfurt am Main

The oldest port in Frankfurt is the Mainkai , which has been in use since the Middle Ages, between the Alter Brücke and Leonhardstor . In the 19th century the quays were expanded and extended downstream around the Untermainkai and upstream around the Schöne Aussicht . From 1882 to 1886 the Lower Main was canalized and made navigable for large Rhine ships. The Westhafen, opened in 1886, with its modern storage and handling facilities, brought an enormous boost to port operations. The commissioning of the East Harbor, built between 1908 and 1912, and the associated industrial and commercial areas created the prerequisite for Frankfurt to become the second largest German inland port and an important industrial city.

Despite the opening of the Main-Danube Canal , the importance of Frankfurt's inland ports has declined sharply since the 1970s. Due to their central location in the urban area and the attractiveness of the Main as an urban space, port areas are preferentially converted into new residential areas, as in many large cities around the world, without replacing them in the outskirts.

The Westhafen was closed in 1995 and redesigned into a modern office and residential area from 2000 to 2013, while the Osthafen has been modernized in recent years as a container port with extensive commercial and industrial areas. It is divided into an upper and lower harbor, both of which consist of two basins, making it the largest port in Frankfurt.

The Gutleuthof river port , which was built in the 1950s and named after the historic Gutleuthof in the Gutleutviertel , is still in operation. The areas of the East, West and Gutleuthhafen are opened up by their own port railway and connected to one another via the tracks of the former connecting railway.

While the Höchst port was closed in 1982, the port of the Höchst industrial park continues to be an important transshipment point. This also includes the Rhein-Main Container Port .

The nidda

Nidda estuary "Wörthspitze" with houseboats

The Nidda is the second largest river in Frankfurt. Over a length of around 18.6 km (of a total of around 90 km) it runs from Berkersheim to its confluence with the Main at the Wörthspitze in Nied through the urban area.

Districts on the Nidda

The neighboring districts are (in the direction of the river; neighboring communities in brackets):

Left bank Right bank
Berkersheim ( Bad Vilbel )
Harheim
Frankfurter Berg
Bonames
Kalbach-Riedberg
Eschersheim
Niederursel
Heddernheim
Ginnheim
Praunheim
Praunheim
Hausen
Rödelheim
Rödelheim
Griesheim Sossenheim
Nied
Maximum
Nied
Maximum

Niddabrücke

Old Niddabrücke in Nied

Main article: List of the Nidda bridges in Frankfurt am Main

There are over 40 bridges over the Nidda in Frankfurt. Many of them are pedestrian bridges, but there are also four motorway, three railway and some road bridges. Urban development can be traced in many buildings. Then as now, important traffic routes cross the Nidda.

The first wooden bridges were built in the Middle Ages . There is evidence of two bridges in Bonames and Rödelheim , which were built in the 14th century and served to secure important trade routes from the imperial city of Frankfurt to Northern Germany and Cologne . In 1482 the Bonames wooden bridge was replaced by a new stone building. The late Classicist bridge on the Homburger Landstrasse , which was last renewed in 1894 , now only leads over an oxbow lake of the Nidda. In 1824 the old Niddabrücke was built in Nied .

The 1838 built, the route of the Taunusbahn owned railway bridge Nied is the second oldest operating railway bridge in Germany. In 1903 the first line of the Frankfurt tram crossed the Nidda with the extension to the Rödelheimer Bahn and in 1908 the construction of the still existing tram viaduct in Eschersheim followed . Numerous new road bridges were built from the post-war period to the 1970s. The youngest bridge, the Robert Gernhardt Bridge, was opened to pedestrians in 2006 to connect the renatured old Bonames airfield .

Nidda regulation: oxbow lakes and weirs

Highest weir

Until the first breach of a loop of the river in Rödelheim in 1824, the Nidda flowed meandering through what is now Frankfurt's urban area. In 1842 a second loop followed in Rödelheim, which was replaced by a 1 km long straight canal.

Decisive for the creation of many oxbow lakes are the plans for the incorporation of the districts of Hausen , Praunheim and Rödelheim in 1910. They were regularly flooded and should be protected from the risk of flooding by expanding the Nidda . The water level was kept constant with regulating weirs and a faster drainage was made possible by straightening and widening the course of the river. Due to the First World War , the plans were not implemented until 1926–1931. Many bends in the river were completely cut off from the Nidda.

Many of the detached oxbow lakes are now stagnant bodies of water and some of them are cherished by fishing clubs. In some oxbow lakes, outdoor pools were also created, where previously beach baths mostly existed. For example, the slightly curved pool of the Brentanobad - according to the city, 220 meters long and 50 meters wide, the largest swimming pool in Europe - the Eschersheim outdoor pool and the now decommissioned and renatured Höchst outdoor pool are part of the original Niddalauf. Since 1993, individual oxbow lakes have been designed to be natural again and connected to the Nidda. It is planned to tear down the Nidda weirs and replace them with so-called rough ramps in order to lift the current ecological isolation of the Nidda and make it accessible again for fish .

Green belt

Nidda cycle path in Nied

Main article: Frankfurt Green Belt

The entire course of the Nidda, including its floodplain areas, lies in the green belt and is therefore a local recreation and landscape protection area . Numerous animal species have settled in the riparian forests and bird sanctuaries . The adjacent parks and green areas offer many opportunities for recreation and leisure activities. The riverside paths have been developed and are suitable for walks and bike rides . Among other things, the signposted hiking and cycling trail as well as the apple wine and orchard route run here .

More rivers

The Eschbach

In addition to the Main and the Nidda, there are numerous other streams and ditches that flow through Frankfurt. Many have their source in the Taunus and flow into the Main or the Nidda in the western and northern parts of the city. Some of the districts - for example Nieder-Eschbach and Nieder-Erlenbach - are named after these waters. Numerous other small streams and ditches arise in the urban area and on the southern and eastern outskirts. However, they often do not have water all year round.

Surname Course
district of the river mouth highlighted, neighboring towns in brackets 		Length in Frankfurt
Total length in brackets 		Remarks

Main tributaries

Enkheimer Mühlbach Bergen-Enkheim 180 m In the past, the stream that emerged from several springs below the Heinrich-Bingemer-Weg drove the Enkheimer Mühle - a half-timbered house that is now more than 275 years old and is a listed building. Today the only temporarily water-bearing ditch flows into the sewer system. The Enkheimer Mühlbach is one of the stops on the Quellenwanderweg in Frankfurt's green belt .
Goldbach Sachsenhausen-Nord , Oberrad 1.4 km The Goldbach rises below the Mühlberg and is the main artery of an artificially created, widely branched system of ditches for draining the agricultural fields between Oberrad and Sachsenhausen. It flows into the Main near the Gerbermühle .
Kelster Schwanheim , ( Kelsterbach ) 1.6 km (3.1 km) The source is in the Schwanheim meadows.
Königsbach /
Luderbach 		( Neu-Isenburg ), Sachsenhausen-Süd , Niederrad 5.9 km (14.2 km) The Königsbach - also called Luderbach - flows through the Jacobi pond in the city forest and flows into the Main at the Main-Neckar bridge .
Lachegraben (Griesheim) Griesheim 2.6 km The Griesheimer Lachegraben - not to be confused with the Lachgraben or the Lachegraben in Eschersheim - begins in an allotment garden, then flows parallel to the Taunus Railway and is piped from the Mainzer Landstrasse along the border to the Griesheim industrial park into the Main.
Laugh pit ( Liederbach am Taunus ), Zeilsheim , Unterliederbach , Zeilsheim, Sindlingen , Höchst 5.5 km (6.6 km) The laughter ditch feeds the fire water pond in front of the Centennial Hall . For the last 1.5 km it flows piped through the Höchst industrial park .
Liederbach ( Königstein im Taunus , Kelkheim , Liederbach am Taunus ), Unterliederbach , Höchst 5 km (21 km) The two streams Reichenbach and Rombach arise on the southern slope of the Großer Feldberg . They unite in Königstein im Taunus to form the Liederbach. In the Frankfurt city area, the Liederbach runs through Unterliederbach and Höchst. At the Höchst industrial park, the Liederbach flows into the Main at kilometer 24. His name is synonymous with a rushing brook. This is how the village of Liederbach am Taunus got its name, as did the Frankfurt district of Unterliederbach.
Riedgraben /
Entengraben 		( Maintal ), Bergen-Enkheim , Seckbach , Bornheim , Ostend 11.5 km (...) The Riedgraben feeds the Riedteich in the Enkheimer Ried nature reserve , then passes under the adjoining residential area with pipes and then rises to the surface before it is channeled from the stadium on Bornheimer Hang through the sewer system into the Osthafen . On a short section in the Seckbacher Ried nature reserve , the Riedgraben is also called Entengraben . The Riedgraben uses the route of a former main oxbow .
Schwarzbach Schwanheim 1.2 km The natural spring in the Niederrad office district has been drained since the 1930s , but the creek on a section of the Goldsteinpark was brought back to life by a fountain in 2003 on the initiative of the citizens. It is piped into the Main. The mill ditch of the former Schwarzbachmühle south of the Schwarzbach no longer has any water.
Seckbacher Mühlbach /
Draisborngraben 		Seckbach 1 km The Mühlbach, also called Draisborngraben , is formed from several sources on the western slope of the Lohrberg . He once drove the Seckbach watermill, the millstones of which can still be seen in front of the house at 16 Hintergasse. Today it is piped almost completely into the Seckbacher Ried nature reserve . The springs can be viewed on the route of the Quellenwanderweg in Frankfurt's green belt .
Welschgraben ( Kelkheim ), Zeilsheim , Sindlingen , ( Hattersheim am Main ), Sindlingen 6.7 km (...) The Welschgraben becomes visible for the first time in Hofheim am Taunus and leads through Zeilsheim and Sindlingen in the city of Frankfurt. It directs water from the foothills of the Taunus south of the sewage treatment plant in Sindlingen at river kilometer 24.5 into the Main, but has no water for most of the year. So-called Welsch trenches formed the border to settlement areas of the Welschen = Huguenots , similar to a Landwehr .

Nidda tributaries

Well ditch Harheim 430 m The spring is called the Roman Well and indicates the settlement of Romans . Archaeological finds even go back to the Neolithic . The stream first flows into the Eschbach , which flows into the Nidda after a few meters.
Dottenfeldgraben /
Laufgraben 		Sossenheim 1.6 km The Dottenfeldgraben - also known as Laufgraben - is an artificially created drainage ditch for the moist arable and meadow areas in the Sossenheimer Unterfeld . It has water all year round.
Erlenbach ( Bad Homburg vor der Höhe ), Nieder-Erlenbach , ( Bad Vilbel ) 3.4 km (30 km) The approximately 30-kilometer-long Erlenbach, previously lined with many alders , rises northeast of the Sandplacken pass in the Hohe Taunus . Within the Frankfurt city area, it flows through Nieder-Erlenbach for 3.4 kilometers and flows into the Nidda west of Bad Vilbel ( Wetteraukreis ). The Erlenbach has the potential to be dangerous during floods.
Eschbach ( Bad Homburg vor der Höhe ), Nieder-Eschbach , Harheim 5 km (...) The Eschbach, which was already regulated and expanded in 1863 and which got its name from the ash trees that grew on its banks, is formed from the confluence of several springs on the southern slope of the Hohe Taunus . Further brooks of the Taunus and the Taunengraben in Frankfurt flow into it. In the city of Frankfurt the Eschbach flows through Nieder-Eschbach and flows into the Nidda in Harheim at the height of the sports field. Like the Erlenbach, the Eschbach can be dangerous during floods.
Eselsborngraben Bergen-Enkheim , ( Bad Vilbel ) ... (3.1 km) The Eselsborn rises on the Buchenhorster Hof in Bergen-Enkheim and forms the Eselsborngraben. The water flows into the Nidda near Bad Vilbel ( Wetteraukreis ), at the end of the Gronau district.
Kalbach ( Oberursel ), Kalbach-Riedberg , Bonames 3.6 km (5.4 km) The 5.4 kilometer long Kalbach rises on the southern slope of the Hohe Taunus. In the Frankfurt city area it flows through Kalbach and Bonames. It flows into the western part of the Bonamese old arm of the Nidda.
Mühlgraben (Eschbach) Nieder-Eschbach 1 km Served as a mill ditch and to irrigate some fields. Was drained with the renaturation of the downward weir.
Oberwiesengraben /
Lachegraben /
Flutgraben 		( Bad Vilbel ), Berkersheim , Preungesheim , Eckenheim , Frankfurter Berg , Eschersheim 4 km (...) The Oberwiesengraben - called Flutgraben in Eckenheim and Lachegraben in Eschersheim - is a partially piped system of ditches that was interrupted by the construction of the A 661 motorway and today hardly carries any water.
Rohrborngraben Niederursel 1 km The Rohrborngraben is part of a heavily branched system of ditches in the Riedwiesen nature reserve and is fed by the Bornfloss and Bonifatius springs.
Rödelheimer Mühlbach Rödelheim 600 m The Mühlbach served as a water inlet for the Rödelheimer mill, which was demolished in 1966. Together with the Nidda, it forms an island on which the Solmspark is located.
Steinbach ( Steinbach (Taunus) ), Praunheim 2.1 km (5.5 km)
Sulzbach ( Sulzbach (Taunus) ), Sossenheim 2.7 km (...)
Urselbach ( Oberursel ), Niederursel , Heddernheim 4.2 km (18.5 km)
Westerbach ( Eschborn ), Sossenheim , Rödelheim 2.8 km (11.5 km)
Wooggraben /
Ochsengraben 		Ginnheim , Bockenheim 3.4 km Wooggraben (Ginnheim) and Ochsengraben (Bockenheim) are the last remnants of a trench system for draining fields and meadows in the Nidda floodplain. Most of it is cased today; the exposed trenches often run dry.

Low tributaries

The former Feldbach originated in the Bergen-Enkheim district on the Berger ridge and flowed into the Nidder near Niederdorfelden . The so-called Mucke Born source close to the Stegweidhof has now dried up, however, the stream by numerous willows , which are along the trench, furthermore still clearly visible. Some imposing trees on the city limits are protected as natural monuments. In times of high rainfall, the Feldbach serves as a drainage ditch for the surrounding arable and meadow areas and thus occasionally carries water.

Rhine tributaries

The Hengstbach - also called Gundbach and from Mörfelden-Walldorf Schwarzbach - rises south of Frankfurt between Dreieich and Dietzenbach and flows through the urban area over a distance of only 1.7 km south of Cargo City Süd . Coming from Zeppelinheim , it initially runs about 800 m parallel to the A 5 and then through the Gundwald, the southernmost point of Frankfurt. There he passes the city limits to Mörfelden-Walldorf. The Hengstbach has a total length of 40 km and flows directly into the Rhine at Ginsheim-Gustavsburg as the only body of water in Frankfurt .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Route atlas of the Main Part I from km 0 (Main estuary) to km 186.6 (Rothenfels barrage). In: wsv.de. Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping, July 15, 2019, accessed on August 5, 2019 .
  2. ↑ the right bank of the Main in the industrial park is the border between Sindlingen and Höchst (Main to Sindlingen, industrial park to Höchst)
  3. ↑ floodplains of the Main at par.frankfurt.de , the former website of the city of Frankfurt am Main
  4. ^ Elsbet Orth, Frankfurt am Main in the Early and High Middle Ages. In: Frankfurter Historische Kommission (Ed.): Frankfurt am Main - The history of the city in nine contributions. (=  Publications of the Frankfurt Historical Commission . Volume XVII ). Jan Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1991, ISBN 3-7995-4158-6 , p. 11 .
  5. ↑ frankfurt.de, accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  6. ↑ Liederbach, frankfurt.de, accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  7. ^ Seckbacher Mühlbach / Draisborngraben accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  8. ^ Welschgraben, frankfurt.de Retrieved on Feb. 24, 2020
  9. ↑ Erlenbach, frankfurt.de, accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  10. ↑ a b Erlenbach and Eschbach, frankfurt.de, accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  11. ↑ Eschbach and Mühlgraben, frankfurt.de, accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  12. ^ Eselsborngraben, frankfurt.de, accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  13. ↑ Kalbach. frankfurt.de, accessed on Feb. 24, 2020
  14. ↑ City of Frankfurt am Main, Umweltamt (Ed.): Stadtgewässer - Discovering rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, p. 85

Web links

Commons : Main  album with pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Nidda  - album with pictures, videos and audio files