Lauffen (Ettikon)

View up the Rhine from the German bank

The Lauffen near Ettikon also Ettikoner Lauffen , Kadelburger Lauffen , in Switzerland mostly Koblenzer Lauffen and in comparison to the Rhine Falls (Grosser Lauffen) and the Kleiner Lauffen near Laufenburg also Mittlerer Lauffen , formerly also Schiessen or Schussen , are rapids in the Rhine near the city of Waldshut -Tiengen in Klettgau and Switzerland in Aargau . The Rheinaubund campaigned for its preservation .

History and geology

It is named after Ettikon , an originally small hamlet and district of Küssaberg . The Rhine has a gradient of around 2.32 ‰ in this section, the maximum is likely to be a little higher.

The Lauffen near Ettikon is a popular destination. The Lauffen and the Rhine Falls are the only still intact rapids in the Rhine between Schaffhausen and the Rhine estuary in the Netherlands. All other waterfalls, rapids and rocky reefs were blown up for shipping or dammed or built over for power stations. When the water is low, the rocks and plates of the shell limestone are visible in the water.

Crinoid limestone banks run through the rock. The shore and the beautiful nature have attracted many swimmers. Canoeists also often underestimate the danger of the reefs and whirlpools, so there have already been fatalities here. Bathing and driving on the German side is therefore prohibited. The Rhine and the middle of the river form the border between Germany and Switzerland . On the Swiss side leading railway Winterthur-Koblenz the SBB along. The lower shore area for many years as a meeting place for nudist known -Anhänger.

The area has been populated since Roman times. Between the middle of the 1st and 3rd centuries there was a villa rustica near Koblenz AG . In 1914, during excavation work, a bathing facility, imported terra sigillata and brick stamps came to light. The foundation walls of a late Roman burgus built in 371 and extensively renovated in 2014 are well preserved. It was located around one kilometer east of today's village near Kleiner Lauffen and was called summa rapida (“(an) the rapid”). Another watchtower was located further west in the Rütenen area . After the Romans withdrew in the first decade of the 5th century, the area was largely uninhabited.

The legend tells of a ford crossing of the Celts and Alemanni.

In 1963 tunnel construction for the construction of a river power plant was started and also completed. The work cost 15 million  DM . Ultimately, the power plant construction was stopped, ostensibly because the emerging nuclear power plants promised more returns, and making it navigable was never implemented.

Protected areas

The area has been designated as the “Kadelburger Lauffen-Wutach estuary” with 38.5 hectares since March 9, 1993 as a nature reserve with the number 3.192. The Kadelburger Lauffen is also part of the 269.4 hectare FFH area Hochrhein east Waldshut .

literature

• Emil Müller-Ettikon: A brief overview of the history of Küssaberg . Küssaberg Municipality (Ed.), 1981.
• Josef Haas: White water pearls. White water rafting in the Black Forest . Südkurier, Konstanz 1989, ISBN 3-87799-016-9 .
• Hans Schneider: About recent crust movements in the pre-Alpine landscape between the southern Rhine rift and Lake Constance . In: Communications from the Schaffhausen Natural Research Society , 1973 and 1975

Web links

Commons : Koblenzer Laufen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website of the municipality of Küssaberg
• Water hiking on the Upper Rhine on Wikivoyage

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hans Schneider: About young crust movements in the pre-alpine landscape between the southern Rhine rift and Lake Constance . In: Mitteilungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft Schaffhausen , 1973 and 1975, (special print pp. 76–77)
2. ↑ nacktbaden.de ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ^ Martin Hartmann, Hans Weber: The Romans in Aargau . Verlag Sauerländer, Aarau 1985, ISBN 3-7941-2539-8 , p. 177 .
4. ^ Emil Müller-Ettikon: Brief overview of the history of Küssaberg . P. 144

Coordinates: 47 ° 36 '52 "  N , 8 ° 15' 41"  E ; CH1903:  661,868  /  274074