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The Source of the Nahe near Selbach
The Nahe River has its source in a valley meadow surrounded by
woods at the foot of one of the southern branches of the Hochwald
mountain range (Schwarzwälder Hochwald), not far from the
village of Selbach (460 m). The source of the Nahe
lies in a shady grove (refreshingly cool in summer). In 1968 the
water has been redirected and wells out since then from a pipe
fixed in a rustic-style granite masonry. When you
see the fine trickle escaping from the pipe, you are
surprised that it doesn't simply drain away into the earth again,
but instead, under the name "Nahe", successfully begins its 112
km long journey. If you follow the "young" Nahe from its source
to Selbach (where the first bridge is) and from there on to the
hamlet of Elsenbergermühle, you will be surprised to discover
how quickly it widens in these first few kilometers, fed by several
tributaries from the surrounding mountains and valleys. Actually,
the Nahe is responsible for the drainage in the entire area. It
is therefore not surprising then that this stream becomes a proper
river, which was powerful enough to burrow a bed through the
geologically very hard rock near the narrows of
Idar-Oberstein,
Kirn
and
Bad Münster am Stein
over a millennium. It is also powerful enough to cross the
wide lowlands of the
Kreuznach basin
and reaches the Rhine near
Bingen.
Photo: A hundred metres from its source, the Nahe is only a
modest stream, which is hardly expected to flow into the Rhine as a
river after 112 kilometres.
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