The Pegnitz
The name of the river Pegnitz goes back to the name "Paginza" mentioned in 889. In 1119, when the town of Pegnitz was first mentioned in a document, it can be found as "Begenze" and in 1196 as "Begnitz", before the current name was mentioned in 1329. In Franconia it is also often called "Bengertz".
The source of the Pegnitz is in the town of Pegnitz on the eastern slope of the Schloßberg (543 m above sea level): the water of the Pegnitz flows through the town of Pegnitz from a karst spring on this mountain at a height of 425 m. However, the majority of the Pegnitz water there does not come from this source, but rather arises in the Lindenhardt forest as Fichtenohe, which flows in the direction of Pegnitz and flows into the short stream from the Pegnitz spring in the city area.
The Pegnitz flows in southerly directions via Neuhaus and Velden through the Franconian Switzerland-Veldensteiner Forest Nature Park and then through Hersbrucker Schweiz via Hersbruck. It then runs in a westerly direction via Lauf and Nuremberg to Fürth. North of the city center of Fürth, the Pegnitz joins the Rednitz to form the Regnitz after a run of almost 113 km.
The Pegnitz drains the part of the Franconian Jura that borders Franconian Switzerland to the south-east. The total of 1230 km² orographic catchment area also includes karst plateaux with dry valleys with no or only periodic surface runoff. The eastern boundary of the catchment coincides with the main European watershed.
Source: excerpts from Wikipedia