Günz

Günz
Meander of the Östliche Günz south of Ronsberg
Data
Water body code	DE: 1158
Location	Germany, Bavaria
River system	Danube
Drainage via	Danube → Black Sea
Origin	near Lauben (confluence of eastern and western Günz) 48° 3′ 56″ N, 10° 18′ 6″ E48.06555555555610.301666666667575
Source Height	575 mabove sea level
Mouth	into the Danube near Günzburg48.46222222222210.275416666667440Coordinates 48° 27′ 44″ N, 10° 16′ 32″ O 48° 27′ 44″ N, 10° 16′ 32″ O48.46222222222210.275416666667440
Mouth height	440 mabovesea level
Height difference	135 m
Bottom slope	2,5 ‰
Length	55 km
Catchment area	710 km²
Discharge at Waldstetten gauge[1] AEo: 594 km² Location: 14.8 km upstream of the estuary	NNQ (12.12.1991) MNQ 1955-2006 MQ 1955-2006 Mq 1955-2006 MHQ 1955-2006 HHQ (12.08.2002)	2.13 m³/s 3.55 m³/s 8.37 m³/s 14.1 l/(skm²) 65.4 m³/s 111 m³/s
Small towns	Günzburg
Upper reaches of the Östliche Günz in Obergünzburg

The Günz is an approximately 55 km long right tributary of the Danube in the Upper Swabian Alpine foothills in Bavaria.

Name

The name is said to derive from the Indo-European “*gheu” – “to pour” – in the sense of “watery river”.^[2]

Course

The Günz originates near Lauben in the district of Unterallgäu from the confluence of the Western and Eastern Günz and flows mainly in a northerly direction. It flows into the Danube from the right at Günzburg.

The Günz cold period, one of the main alpine glaciation periods, is named after the Günz.

Source Flows

Western Günz

The Westliche Günz is 19 km long and rises west of Obergünzburg in the municipality of Untrasried. It flows through Ottobeuren. In Westerheim it passes under the federal motorway 96 and then joins the Östliche Günz near Lauben.

Tributaries of the Western Günz

• Bücklingsbach (right)
• Rohrwegbach (left)
• Moosmühlbach (right)
• Schweinwaldbach (left)
• Boschachbach (right)
• Geisbach (right)
• Schinderbachlein (left)
• Schwelk (right)
• Krebsbach (left)

Eastern Günz

The 17 km long Östliche Günz has its source in Günzach. It flows in a northerly direction through Obergünzburg, then runs parallel to the 2012 state road to Markt Rettenbach and crosses under the A96 at Erkheim. At Lauben, the Östliche Günz flows together with the Westliche Günz.

Tributaries of the Eastern Günz

• Tobelbach (left, sometimes considered as headwaters)
• Wifelsbach (left)
• Salabach (right)
• Stockerbächlein (right)
• Riedbach (right)

Catchment area of the Günz

Catchment area

The 710 km² catchment area of the Günz stretches as a narrow 6 to 12 km wide strip from the terminal moraines of the Würmkal period
Iller-Wertach-Lech glacier along former glacial drainage channels^[3]
north to the Danube.

Tributaries of the Günz

• Klosterbeuren brook (left)
• Auerbach (left)
• Reutegraben (left)
• Haselbach (right)
• Schildbach (left)
• Schwarzbach (left)
• Hausener Bach (left)
• Rohrbach (left)
• Schnierbach (right)
• Kötz (left)
• Winterbach (right)
• Denzinger Bach (right)
• Bubesheimer Bach (left)
• Riemgraben (right)

Places on the Günz

The valley of the eastern Günz near Ronsberg

Ecology

Some of the fish in the Günz are contaminated with PFCs and should therefore not be consumed.^[4]

See also

• List of water bodies in the river system Günz

Web links

Commons: Günz– Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Map of the Günz on: BayernAtlas of the Bavarian State Government (references)

Individual references

1. ↑ German Hydrological Yearbook Danube Basin 2006 Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt, p. 111, retrieved 4 October 2017, At: bestellen.bayern.de (PDF, German, 24.2 MB).
2. ↑ Joseph Schnetz, Flußnamen des Bayerischen Schwabens, 1. booklet, Verlag Dr. C. Wolf & Sohn, Munich, 1950
3. ↑ Geological General Map of the Federal Republic of Germany 1 : 200 000, Hrgb. Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources
4. ↑ Frickenhausen: Chemicals: Contaminated fish also discovered in the Günz.In: augsburger-allgemeine.de. August 31, 2019, accessed August 31, 2019.