Lech Riverside Path Near Elmen

The Lech has always been the lifeline of the villages and towns through which it flows. The wild river was created by the Lech Glacier, which covered the area between today's Lech and the Iller. It rises near the Formarinsee in the Austrian Vorarlberg, then characterizes one of the last wild river landscapes in Europe - the Lech Valley -, leads over the Lechfall in Füssen to Augsburg and finally flows into the Danube at Rain. The most fascinating thing about this "last of the wild" is its color: magically light blue-turquoise to jade green. The Lech owes this to two factors: On the one hand, the high content of minerals in the water, which the Lech dissolves from its stones, and on the other hand, the low water temperature. The average annual temperature is only six degrees Celsius.

The Lech is a right tributary of the Danube. The 256 km long river rises in Vorarlberg and flows through Tyrol and southern Bavaria, where it flows into the Danube. Shortly before the Austrian-German border it takes in the Vils, forms the artificial Lechfall in front of Füssen and on its way crosses the artificially dammed Forgensee and parts of Swabia and Upper Bavaria. The largest cities on the Lech are Landsberg and Augsburg, where it receives its largest tributary, the Wertach. The river flows into the Danube near Marxheim.
The Lech is the most important river in Augsburg and is depicted at the Augustusbrunnen as a river god with a wreath of spruce cones, wolf skin and raftsman's paddle, decorated with reeds, crabs and fish.
The Augustus Fountain is one of the three magnificent fountains in Augsburg, along with the Merkur Fountain and Hercules Fountain. It is located on the town hall square and depicts the city's founder, the Roman Emperor Augustus.

The Lech is always pure fascination. There are so many magnificently beautiful places with a great panorama. Here you can let your soul rest and enjoy life.