Neckar

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The Neckar is a 367-km long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse in Germany, a major right tributary of the River Rhine, which it joins at Mannheim. Rising in the Black Forest near Villingen-Schwenningen in the conservation area Schwenninger Moos at a height of 706 m above sea level, it passes through Rottweil, Rottenburg, Tübingen, Nürtingen, Plochingen, Esslingen, Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Marbach, Heilbronn and Heidelberg, before discharging into the Rhine at Mannheim (at 95 m above sea level).

Along its valley in the Odenwald hills, many castles can be found, like Burg Hornberg and Burg Guttenberg in Haßmersheim, but also the closed nuclear power station Kernkraftwerk Obrigheim which is due to be dismantled by 2023. After passing Heidelberg, the Neckar discharges on average 145 m³/s of water into the Rhine which makes the Neckar its 4th largest tributary, and the 10th largest river in Germany.

The name Neckar was derived via Nicarus und Neccarus from Celtic Nikros, meaning wild water or wild fellow. Since about 1100, Black Forest wood was transported by timber rafting, e.g. to Holland for the use in shipyards.

During the 19th century, traditional horse-drawn boats were replaced by steam boats that used a 155-km long chain in the river to pull themselves upstream. The railway made it possible to transport timber to the port of Heilbronn, limiting timber rafting to the lower part of the Neckar after 1899. Due to 11 locks, Großes Rheinschiff ships up to 1500t could travel to Heilbronn in 1935.

By 1968, the last of 27 locks, at Deizisau, was completed, making the Neckar navigable for cargo ships about 200 km upstream from Mannheim up to the river port of Plochingen, where the Fils joins and the Neckar bends, taking a Northwestern instead of a Northeastern direction. The other ports are in Stuttgart, Heilbronn and Mannheim.

The river's course provides a popular route for cyclists, especially during the summer months. Its steep valley sides are used as vineyards, to cultivate mainly Trollinger.

Towns along the Neckar

From its source to its confluence with the Rhine:

Main tributaries

Eschach (left side, at Rottweil-Bühlingen)

Ammer (left side, at Tübingen-Lustnau)

Echaz (right side, at Kirchentellinsfurt)
Lauter (right side, at Wendlingen)
Fils (right side, at Plochingen)
Nesenbach (left side, at Stuttgart-Ost)
Rems (right side, at Remseck)
Murr (right side, at Marbach)
Enz (left side, at Besigheim)
Zaber (left side, at Lauffen)
Sulm (right side, at Neckarsulm)
Kocher (right side, at Bad Friedrichshall)
Jagst (right side, at Bad Wimpfen)
Elz (right side, at Mosbach-Neckarelz)

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DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:200000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:50000 start:0 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10000 start:0

there is no automatic collision detection,
so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap

Define $dx = 15 # shift text to right side of bar Define $dy = -3 # shift text down

Colors =

id:wasser   value:blue   legend:Neckar

id:schleuse value:yellow legend:Lock

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bar:Schleusen color:wasser width:25 mark:(line,schleuse) align:left fontsize:M

from:0 till:200000

at:6200   shift:($dx,$dy) color:wasser text:  6.2 km Feudenheim Lock

at:17700  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 17.7 km Schwabenheim Lock

at:26100  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 26.1 km Heidelberg Lock

at:30800  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 30.8 km Neckargemünd Lock

at:39300  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 39.3 km Neckarsteinach Lock

at:47700  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 47.7 km Hirschhorn Lock

at:61400  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 61.4 km Rockenau Lock

at:72200  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 72.2 km Guttenbach Lock

at:85900  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 85.9 km Neckarzimmern Lock

at:93800  shift:($dx,$dy) text: 93.8 km Gundelsheim Lock

at:103900 shift:($dx,$dy) text:103.9 km Kochendorf Lock

at:113600 shift:($dx,$dy) text:113.6 km Heilbronn Lock

at:117500 shift:($dx,$dy) text:117.5 km Horkheim Lock

at:125100 shift:($dx,$dy) text:125.1 km Lauffen Lock

at:136200 shift:($dx,$dy) text:136.2 km Besigheim Lock

at:143000 shift:($dx,$dy) text:143.0 km Hessigheim Lock

at:150100 shift:($dx,$dy) text:150.1 km Pleidelsheim Lock

at:157600 shift:($dx,$dy) text:157.6 km Marbach Lock

at:165000 shift:($dx,$dy) text:165.0 km Poppenweiler Lock

at:171400 shift:($dx,$dy) text:171.4 km Aldingen Lock

at:176200 shift:($dx,$dy) text:176.2 km Hofen Lock

at:182700 shift:($dx,$dy) text:182.7 km Cannstatt Lock

at:186700 shift:($dx,-5) text:186.7 km Untertürkheim Lock

at:189500 shift:($dx,$dy) text:189.5 km Obertürkheim Lock

at:194000 shift:($dx,-8) text:194.0 km Esslingen Lock

at:194800 shift:($dx,1) text:194.8 km Oberesslingen Lock

at:199500 shift:($dx,$dy) text:199.5 km Deizisau Lock

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Last updated on Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 07:51:37 PST (GMT -0800)
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