Emme River

The River Emme (German: Emme) is a short river in Switzerland, a tributary of the River Aar, itself a tributary of the River Rhine.

Geography

The River Emme rises between Hohgant and Augstmatthorn, in the canton of Bern, and runs through the Emmental region. It empties on the right bank into the Aar River downstream of the town of Solothurn. The extension of the hydrographic basin is 983 km². The average flow rate is approximately 20 m³/s. The maximum flow can reach 500 m³/s. The Emme is known for its sudden variations in flow. The main tributaries of the Emme are the Ilfis and Limpach rivers.

It passes through the communes of Habkern, Flühli, Schangnau, Eggiwil, Signau, Lauperswil, Rüderswil, Lützelflüh, Hasle bei Burgdorf, Rüegsau, Heimiswil, Burgdorf, Kirchberg, Lyssach, Rüdtligen-Alchenflüh, Aefligen, Utzenstorf, Bätterkinden, Wiler be i Utzenstorf, Zielebach, Gerlafingen, Biberist, Derendingen, Zuchwil and Luterbach.

The narrative Die Wassernot im Emmental (The Flood in Emmental), by Jeremias Gotthelf, describes the largest known flood that took place on August 13, 1837. This and other floods caused In the 19th century the Emme was channeled along almost its entire length and several dams were built on both sides.

The valley of the Emme river "Emmental" (tal in German means valley) gives its name to the famous Alpine cheese Emmental since it is originally from this area, today it is produced under that name in Germany, Austria, France, Finland, Denmark and Ireland. It is for this reason that the true origin cheese is called emmentaler AOC to differentiate itself from the rest.