The Reuss, Aare, Aareschlucht, Rhine, Limmat and Swiss Koblenz

2 September 2023

Koblenz (canton of Aargau) is the Aare and the Rhine confluence site. The Aare is the largest tributary of the Rhine, with more cubic metres of water per second than the Main or the Moselle at Koblenz in Germany.

Switzerland is the water castle of Europe. The area in the triangle of Brugg, Turgi, and Klingnau, where the three rivers Aare, Reuss, and Limmat merge into the Aare at the Gebenstorfer district Vogelsang, is referred to as the water castle (Wasserschloss) of Switzerland.

The Rhine and the Reuss originate in the Gotthard massif. The source of the Aare is the Oberaar glacier in the Bernese Alps. The river then flows through Lake Thun and Brienz, Bern, and the canton of Solothurn. The Limmat is an outflow of Lake Zurich.

It was canalised in the Correction of Jurassic Waters in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. After absorbing the Limmat, it enters the Rhine near Koblenz.

The Aare is the longest river flowing exclusively on Swiss soil, measuring 295 kilometres.