In Europe, there are no waterfalls as large as those in America and Africa, but that doesn’t mean the old continent lacks important and beautiful waterfalls.
The largest one is formed by the Rhine River as it passes through Switzerland, specifically in the towns of Neuhausen am Rheinfall and Laufen-Uhwiesen, near the northern city of Schaffhausen (between the homonymous canton and the canton of Zurich), which ultimately gives it its name.
It is a powerful mountain torrent that only drops a height of twenty-three meters, but between spring and summer, when the thaw occurs, it reaches an average flow of seven hundred cubic meters per second, giving the current tremendous force; in addition, it spans the considerable width of one hundred fifty meters.
This river phenomenon, interchangeably called Rhine Falls (Rheinfall) or Schaffhausen Waterfalls, is of glacial origin, formed about seventeen thousand years ago due to the partial blockage of the channel by gravel accumulation.
This is very beneficial to the surrounding populations because, as one can imagine, the waterfall attracts numerous tourists who serve as an economic engine, replacing the old ironworks, and whose abundant influx has prevented the environment from being spoiled by the construction of a power plant proposed decades ago.
Thus, there is no shortage of typical boat excursions (both from Switzerland and Germany) to the base of the waterfall – some even with the possibility of climbing stairs to the top of the rock in the middle of the river – as well as walkways and viewpoints erected on the banks to admire the scenery.
This is complemented by the silhouette of the medieval castle of Wörth – now a restaurant – at the water’s edge or the tower of Munot in the historic center of Schaffhausen.
Numerous artists from the Romantic era found an exceptional source of inspiration in that place, from the painter William Turner to the writer Goethe – who described it to Schiller because he wanted to place a scene from his work William Tell there – to the poet Edward Mörike.
This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on December 30, 2018. Puedes leer la versión en español en Las Cataratas del Rin, el mayor salto de agua de Europa
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