Salzach


The Salzach is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Inn and is in length, its flow eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central Eastern Alps. 83% of its drainage basin lies in Austria, the remainder in Germany. Its largest tributaries are Lammer, Berchtesgadener Ache, Saalach, Sur and Götzinger Achen.
By international visitors, it is often incorrectly referred to as "Salzburg River". This is probably due to the similarity in the names.

Etymology

The river's name is derived from the German word "salt" and Aach. Until the 19th century, shipping of salt down the Salza was an important part of the local economy. The shipping ended when the parallel Salzburg-Tyrol Railway line replaced the old transport system.

Course

The Salzach is the main river in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The source is located on the edge of the Kitzbühel Alps near Krimml in the western Pinzgau region. Its headstreams drain several alpine pastures at around , between Krimml and the Tyrolean state border, north of the Gerlos Pass on the slopes of the Salzachgeier and the nearby Schwebenkopf peak ).
From here, it runs eastwards through a large valley via Bruck south of Lake Zell to Schwarzach im Pongau. It then turns northwards and passes Sankt Johann im Pongau. North of here, the Salzach forms the narrow Salzachöfen Gorge between the Berchtesgaden Alps and the Tennen Mountains and then flows to Hallein and the city of Salzburg.
From the junction with its Saalach tributary in the northern Salzburg basin, the Salzach forms the border between Bavaria, Germany and the Austrian states of Salzburg and Upper Austria for almost. Cities on the banks in this lower section include Laufen and its sister town Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Tittmoning, and Burghausen. All these towns have border crossings.
The river finally joins the Inn in Haiming between Burghausen and Braunau.

Tributaries

Upper and lower reaches:, and from the Kitzbühel Alps, Krimmler Ache,,,,,,, from the High Tauern, Pinzga from Lake Zell, Fuscher Ache, from the High Tauern, from the Salzburg Slate Alps,,, from the High Tauern, from the, and from the Hochkönig.
Lower reaches: Lammer from the east, from the Berchtesgaden Alps, and Almbach from the, both from the Osterhorn Group, Königsseer Ache from the Königssee,, Fischach from the lake, Klausbach, Saalach the largest tributaries, Sur and Götzinger Achen on the Bavarian side, Oichten near Oberndorf and Moosach in the Salzburg-Upper Austrian border region.

Hydroelectric power plants

Currently, there are 12 hydroelectric power plants on the Salzach. The power plants are listed beginning at the headwaters:
DamNameplate capacity Annual generation
Schwarzach120482
Wallnerau1338
St. Veit1667
St. Johann1671
Urreiting1676
Bischofshofen1670
Kreuzbergmaut1880
Werfen-Pfarrwerfen1681
Gamp853
Sohlstufe Hallein1681
Urstein22120
Sohlstufe Lehen1381

Photos