| River Name: | Neckar |
| Origin: | Black Forest |
| Mouth: | Rhine |
| Basin Countries: | Germany |
| Length: | 367 km |
| Elevation: | 706 m |
| Discharge: | 145 m³/s |
| Watershed: | ±14,000 km² |
The Neckar is a 367-km long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse in Germany, a major right tributary of the River Rhine, which it joins at Mannheim. Rising in the Black Forest near Villingen-Schwenningen in the conservation area Schwenninger Moos at a height of 706 m above sea level, it passes through Rottweil, Rottenburg am Neckar, Tübingen, Nürtingen, Plochingen, Esslingen, Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Marbach, Heilbronn and Heidelberg, before discharging into the Rhine at Mannheim (at 95 m above sea level).
Along its valley in the Odenwald hills, many castles can be found, like Burg Hornberg and Burg Guttenberg in Haßmersheim, but also the closed Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant. After passing Heidelberg, the Neckar discharges on average 145 m³/s of water into the Rhine, which makes the Neckar its 4th largest tributary, and the 10th largest river in Germany.
The name Neckar was derived from Nicarus and Neccarus from Celtic Nikros, meaning wild water or wild fellow. Since about 1100, Black Forest wood was transported by timber rafting, e.g. to Holland for the use in shipyards.
During the 19th century, traditional horse-drawn boats were replaced by steam boats that used a 155-km long chain in the river to pull themselves upstream. The railway made it possible to transport timber to the port of Heilbronn, limiting timber rafting to the lower part of the Neckar after 1899. Thanks to the construction of 11 locks, ships up to 1500t could travel to Heilbronn in 1935.
By 1968, the last of 27 locks, at Deizisau, was completed, making the Neckar navigable for cargo ships about 200 km upstream from Mannheim up to the river port of Plochingen, where the Fils joins, and where the Neckar bends, taking a Northwestern instead of a Northeastern direction. Other important ports include Stuttgart, Heilbronn and Mannheim.
The river's course provides a popular route for cyclists, especially during the summer months. Its steep valley sides are used as vineyards, to cultivate mainly Trollinger.
From its source to its confluence with the Rhine:
DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:0 till:200000TimeAxis = orientation:verticalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:50000 start:0ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10000 start:0
Define $dx = 15 # shift text to right side of barDefine $dy = -3 # shift text down
Colors = id:wasser value:blue legend:Neckar id:schleuse value:yellow legend:Lock
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from:0 till:200000 at:6200 shift:($dx,$dy) color:wasser text: 6.2 km Feudenheim Lock at:17700 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 17.7 km Schwabenheim Lock at:26100 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 26.1 km Heidelberg Lock at:30800 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 30.8 km Neckargemünd Lock at:39300 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 39.3 km Neckarsteinach Lock at:47700 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 47.7 km Hirschhorn Lock at:61400 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 61.4 km Rockenau Lock at:72200 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 72.2 km Guttenbach Lock at:85900 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 85.9 km Neckarzimmern Lock at:93800 shift:($dx,$dy) text: 93.8 km Gundelsheim Lock at:103900 shift:($dx,$dy) text:103.9 km Kochendorf Lock at:113600 shift:($dx,$dy) text:113.6 km Heilbronn Lock at:117500 shift:($dx,$dy) text:117.5 km Horkheim Lock at:125100 shift:($dx,$dy) text:125.1 km Lauffen Lock at:136200 shift:($dx,$dy) text:136.2 km Besigheim Lock at:143000 shift:($dx,$dy) text:143.0 km Hessigheim Lock at:150100 shift:($dx,$dy) text:150.1 km Pleidelsheim Lock at:157600 shift:($dx,$dy) text:157.6 km Marbach Lock at:165000 shift:($dx,$dy) text:165.0 km Poppenweiler Lock at:171400 shift:($dx,$dy) text:171.4 km Aldingen Lock at:176200 shift:($dx,$dy) text:176.2 km Hofen Lock at:182700 shift:($dx,$dy) text:182.7 km Cannstatt Lock at:186700 shift:($dx,-5) text:186.7 km Untertürkheim Lock at:189500 shift:($dx,$dy) text:189.5 km Obertürkheim Lock at:194000 shift:($dx,-8) text:194.0 km Esslingen Lock at:194800 shift:($dx,1) text:194.8 km Oberesslingen Lock at:199500 shift:($dx,$dy) text:199.5 km Deizisau Lock