Eisbach

Course

The largest of the seven springs of the Eisbach is at an elevation of about 290 metres (950 ft) above sea level on the northern slope of the Hohe Bühl mountain, 443 metres (1,453 ft), in the northern Palatinate Forest, southwest of Ramsen. After about two kilometres, the seven streams unite in the Eiswoog reservoir. At the hamlet of Kleehof, the 3.5-kilometre (2.2 mi) long Bockbach flows in from the right. Here, the direction of the river changes from straight north to northeast. The direction remains northeast until the confluence with the Rhine.

The river then flows past Ramsen and Eisenberg. Below Ebertsheim, it receives the 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) long Seltenbach from the right and a few metres further, its largest tributary, the Rodenbach from the left. At Asselheim, a ward of Grünstadt, the Eisbach reaches the Upper Rhine Valley. It then flows through the wards of Albsheim, Mühlheim and Colgenstein, then Obrigheim itself and finally the hamlet of Neuoffstein. Here, it receives up to 350 cubic metres (12,000 ft3) per work day of waste water from the sugar beet processing plant Südzucker-Werk Offstein.

At Offstein, it crosses the border into Rhenish Hesse. It then flows past some southwestern and southern wards of Worms, viz. Heppenheim, Horchheim and Weinsheim. Near State Road 523, the Mariamünsterbach branches off. During the Middle Ages, this stream provided the tanning and dyeing industries in Worms with water; in the 19th century it was covered. From this point onwards, the Eisbach is called Altbach ("old brook") and flows south of the Worms city centre, through the Bürgerweide ward. It flows into the Upper Rhine at the southern tip of the Worms marina, at an elevation of 89 metres (292 ft).

History

Etymology research suggests that the syllable Eis in the name of the Eisbach did not refer to the frozen state of water, but was derived Eisen ("iron"), referring to the iron ore that was formerly mined in this region. The name of the town of Eisenberg on the river appears to have the same meaning.

The middle of the Eisbach valley was already being exploited in the Old Stone Age by ice age hunters and gatherers. This is evinced by stone tools from the Middle Stone Age that were discovered in Asselheim. Other finds from Asselheim date to the Late Stone Age and the Mesolithic. But the permanent presence of man in the Eisbach valley began with the population explosion of the New Stone Age. Neolithic settlements were established at the Wormser Adlerberg, in Weinsheim, Horchheim, Wiesoppenheim, Albsheim an der Eis and Asselheim. The Wormser Adlerberg is a small eminence, piled up by the Eisbach, where the high ground which is secure from flooding, reaches right up to the banks of the Rhine. Other similarly favourable sites in Worms itself are the Domberg and the Rheingewann, an alluvial cone at the mouth of the Pfrimm. These bridgeheads offered good crossing sites over the river. The valleys of the Pfrimm and the Eis form natural corridors through the hills and were therefore important east-west routes from the Rhine through the Kaiserslautern Basin to Gaul even in prehistoric times. Its location as a natural communications hub was the reason Worms was founded. "Of all the streams that empty into the Rhine north and south of Worms, only the Pfrimm and the Eis were of any great importance, because they formed the only riverside high ground suitable for settlements in the Rhine Plain." Although long-distance trade experienced an important upsurge during the Bronze Age, there have been almost no Bronze Age finds in the upper Eis valley. In the Iron Age the upper Eis valley was also settled. Certainly by Roman times, if not before, iron ore was being mined in the area of Ramsen and iron smelting in Eisenberg. In Eisenberg, a Roman vicus grew up with the character of a small industrial town. The important trunk road through the Eisbach valley was fortified in Roman times, but was only classified as a secondary Roman road. In Eisenberg there was a beneficarius station, which underscored the importance of the route. The road along the Pfrimm was however always more important that the one through the Eisbach valley. In Roman times there were numerous Roman estates in the valleys of the Eis and the Pfrimm, which followed one another in quick succession. Roman rule came to an end in the second half of the 5th century. Frankish settlement of the Eisbach valley began in the late 5th century. Almost all the present-day Eisbach villages go back to Frankish settlements that were founded between the end of the 5th century and the 8th century. The road from Metz to Worms via Kaiserslautern through the Eisbach valley played a central role in the settlement. This road increased further in importance during the Merovingian era because it linked Metz, the capital of the eastern part of the empire, Austrasia, with the Upper Rhine region. During the Saxon Wars, Charlemagne used Worms as an assembly area for his troops, because there, near the Palatinate, was sufficient room and plentiful supplies for large armies. Around 900, Eisbach is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ordinance as one of the places that shared responsibility for maintaining the city wall of Worms.

Sights

Eis valley

Eiswoog

Southwest of the municipality of Ramsen the Eisbach is impounded to create the Eiswoog. There is a hotel-restaurant on the dam; below it are managed fish ponds. A three-kilometre-long path runs around the lake. In the Eiswoog itself are brown trout, perch, northern pike and brook trout. Because the lake is privately owned, fishing is forbidden. The strictly protected kingfisher nests by the lake. The wheatear, which is very rare in Germany and was placed on the IUCN Red List of endangered species in 2008, was registered as a migrant here.

Railway bridges

Of technological interest in the Eis valley are the bridges of the regional Eis Valley Railway:

The Eis Valley Viaduct, finished in 1932 and used until 1988, has a height of 35 metres (115 ft) and, with a length of 250 metres (820 ft), is the longest railway bridge in the Palatinate.

The Bockbach Viaduct over the Bockbach stream was built at a cost of 375,000 RM and is 28.50 metres (93.5 ft) high and 170 metres (560 ft) long.

The Dreibrunnen Viaduct, built at a cost of 245,000 RM, is 23 metres (75 ft) high and was made using a single arch without any intermediate piers.

Stumpfwald Railway

Die Stumpfwald Railway, a heritage narrow gauge railway (600 mm) with open wagons, runs at certain times as a tourist attraction between Ramsen and the Eiswoog. Its night-time "torchlight services" are especially popular.

The "incorruptible hand"

The so-called "incorruptible hand" is displayed in a showcase in the Protestant church at Eisenberg. The hand is linked to a legend about a false oath.

Erdekaut