The Enns () is a southern tributary of the river Danube in Austria, joining northward at the city of Enns. It forms parts
of the border between the states of Lower Austria and Upper Austria. The Enns spans , in a flat-J-shape.
Name
It was known in Latin as Anisus or Anasus, of uncertain origin; Anreiter et al. tried to link it to an Indo-European *on- and the hydronymic suffix *-is-. Later sources call it Ensa or Enisa. Others have linked it to Upper Danubian Vasconic *an, "water." Another possible link is Greek ᾰ̓νῠστός (anystos, "useful"). The West Slavic languages have different names for the river: in Czech it is called the Enže; in Slovak, the Enža; and in Polish, the Aniza.
Geography
The Enns has its source in the Radstädter Tauern mountains in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It flows though an ancient valley (Ennstal) which developed along the structural axis of the Alps (thus an intramontane trough, extending from the Inn and Salzach), and was enlarged during the ice age. It follows the border between the Northern Limestone Alps and the Central Eastern Alps on an eastern trajectory through Styria, where it passes the Dachstein group at its southern side. Between Admont and Hieflau, it takes a turn to the North and passes through the Gesäuse, a gorge of a length of , where it penetrates the limestone of the Ennstaler Alpen. Flowing to the north from there on, it reaches the state of Upper Austria at the mouth of the . North of Steyr, it forms the border between Upper Austria and Lower Austria (formerly also known as Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns). Finally, it meets the Danube at Mauthausen and the city of Enns. It is the longest river solely in Austria.
The Enns is a typical wild water river and draws its water from an area of , which makes it the fifth-largest in Austria. Its average discharge at the mouth is .
The Anisian Age in the Triassic Period of geological time is named from Anisus, the Latin name of the river Enns.
History
During the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians, Saint Florian was drowned in the river by Roman soldiers for refusing to make a sacrifice to the Roman gods in accordance with Roman religion.
In the middle of the 19th century, canals began to be built along the between Weißenbach and the Gesäuse, in order to make use of the water for agriculture and forestry.
In total, ten power plants with a total generative power of 345 megawatts have been built by the Ennskraftwerke AG.
Towns along the river
in Salzburg
- Radstadt
in Styria
- Schladming
- Gröbming
- Liezen
- Selzthal
- Admont
in Upper Austria
- Großraming
- Ternberg
- Garsten
- Steyr
- Enns
Hydroelectric power stations
Currently, there are 15 hydroelectric power stations on the Enns. follows the river starting at Flachauwinkl and finishing where the Enns enters the Danube.