The Dornbirner Ach (also called Dornbirner Ache) is a long stream in Vorarlberg, Austria, and a tributary of Lake Constance () and the Rhine, respectively. It flows through two gorges in its upper part, the Alploch Gorge and the Rappenloch Gorge.
Course
The river's source is located in the mountains near the alpine village of (Dornbirn). Downstream, the river flows through one of the largest and most gorgeous gorges in Central Europe, the () and (), which are separated by a small reservoir lake (). Further downstream, the river cuts through the town of Dornbirn and then meanders off over a broad meadow landscape, the in the Alpine Rhine Valley, finally flowing into Upper Lake Constance.
The mouth of the river was originally near Fussach, but since the straightening of the Alpine Rhine, it flows parallel and quite close to the latter into Lake Constance near Hard. Its mouth lies west of the Bregenzer Ach.
Some of its tributaries are the Kugelbach, Bruderbach, Spätenbach, Gunzenach/Kobelach and Schwarzach.
Gallery
<gallery class="center">
Alplochschlucht01.jpg|Alploch Gorge
StaufenseeDornbirn.jpg|Staufensee
File:Dornbirn Rappenlochschlucht 05.JPG|Rappenloch Gorge
File:Dornbirn wikicon 31.08.2012 14-24-27.jpg|Dornbirn
File:Brücke über Dornbirner Ach - panoramio.jpg|Bridge near the river's mouth
</gallery>
See also
- Bregenz Forest Mountains
- Rivers in Austria
References
External links
- [http://www.vorarlberg.at/abfluss/Enz_dia1_Q.gif] Current water level of the Dornbirner Ach at Enz