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River

Kocher

168 km from source to mouth · Germany.

GermanyGermanyFlows into Neckar

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

168km

Average flow

23m³/s

Basin

1,961km²

Drop

260m

from 412 m to 152 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

168 km of river and 32 stops on the way: 21 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

412 m152 m
Sourceat 412 m0 km
Abtsgmünd7,381 people17 km
Rottributary47 km
Biberstributary67 km
Bühlertributary81 km
Ingelfingen5,468 people109 km
Kupfertributary120 km
Ohrntributary136 km
Neuenstadt am Kocher10,218 people150 km
Neckarat 152 m168 km
050100150168 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 412 m
  2. 0 kmAalen67,085 people
  3. 8 kmHüttlingen5,678 people
  4. 17 kmAbtsgmünd7,381 people
  5. 47 kmRottributary
  6. 49 kmGaildorf12,571 people
  7. 61 kmMichelbach an der Bilz3,401 people
  8. 62 kmRosengarten5,301 people
  9. 67 kmBiberstributary
  10. 69 kmSchwäbisch Hall36,543 people
  11. 69 kmHenkersbrücke
  12. 75 kmUntermünkheim3,019 people
  13. 81 kmBühlertributary
  14. 83 kmKocher Viaduct
  15. 86 kmBraunsbach2,382 people
  16. 104 kmKünzelsau15,070 people
  17. 105 kmEisenbahnbrücke Künzelsau
  18. 109 kmIngelfingen5,468 people
  19. 111 kmCriesbach Bridge
  20. 113 kmNiedernhall4,132 people
  21. 116 kmWeißbach2,082 people
  22. 120 kmKupfertributary
  23. 120 kmForchtenberg5,105 people
  24. 136 kmOhrntributary
  25. 142 kmLangenbrettach3,694 people
  26. 150 kmNeuenstadt am Kocher10,218 people
  27. 160 kmOedheim5,921 people
  28. 163 kmHagenbach1,438 people
  29. 163 kmEisenbahnbrücke über den Kocher bei Bad Friedrichshall
  30. 166 kmKochendorf8,841 people
  31. 166 kmJagstfeld4,122 people
  32. 168 kmUntereisesheim3,861 people
  33. 168 kmBrettachtributary
  34. 168 kmNeckarat 152 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Germany

At the mouth it carries 23 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 109 seconds. It drops from 412 m to 152 m, 1.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,961 km², about the size of MU. 343,000 people live in it. Highest water: February. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • AalenLargest city on its banks · 67,085 people
  • Stuttgart Airport (STR)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 66 km from the cityCar hire at STR airport (Stuttgart)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water5 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe26 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Kocher, month by month

Highest water: February

Best months to visit: from May to September.

8.5
0°46 mmJan
55
1°44 mmFeb
38
5°43 mmMar
29
10°50 mmApr
28
14°68 mmMay
37
17°84 mmJun
32
18°70 mmJul
33
18°75 mmAug
25
15°53 mmSep
23
10°48 mmOct
32
5°53 mmNov
39
2°53 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 8.5 m³/s in the lowest month to 55 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Kocher: the basin in numbers

1,955 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 343,000people live in the basin
  • 175/km²people per km²
  • 407maverage altitude of the basin
  • 715mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 21%protected areas

What covers the basin

  • 43% Forest
  • 28% Cropland
  • 16% Pasture
  • 11% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Kocher: what you find on the way

  • 5DamsSindringen and 4 more
  • 67WeirsAlgishofen, Münstermühle, Hagen and 64 more
  • 3LocksNeckar
  • 6WaterfallsFilgenbachwasserfall (Kühseich), Schleifbachklinge, Goldbrunnen and 3 more
  • 1Rapids
  • 25Canoe put-insUntergröningen, Laufen am Kocher, Wehr, Steinkirchen and 22 more
  • 2Boat ramps
  • 1MarinasYachtclub Sund EV
  • 2Boat rentalsKanu und Bike
  • 7River beaches

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Kocher in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 38mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (38)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Volkmarsberg2.3 km away · prominence 62 m744m
  2. Rosenstein10 km away735m
  3. Falkenberg14 km away776m
  4. Bärenberg8.8 km away · prominence 48 m756m
  5. P.76812 km away · prominence 46 m768m
  6. Utzenberg10 km away · prominence 50 m767m
  7. Grünenberg9.1 km away · prominence 224 m732m
  8. Hausknecht12 km away694m

30 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Kocher: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Kocher: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Kocher in pictures

Kochertal
Andreas Scholz · CC BY 3.0
Kocher in Schwäbisch Hall an Henkersbrücke und Johanniterkirche
Jörg Braukmann · CC BY-SA 4.0
Schwäbisch Hall - Altstadt - Weiler - Henkersbrücke, Johanniterkirche, Im Weiler 2-6 via Kocher
Roman Eisele · CC BY-SA 4.0
Oedheim v Kocherbruecke 20051113
K. Jähne · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (29)

Also: Brettach, Lein, Laxbach, Eisbach, Bibers, Blinde Rot, Schwarzer Kocher, Sall, Bühler, Aal, Kupfer, Weißer Kocher, Ohrn, Rot, Adelbach, Reichenbach, Ernsbach, Deubach, Badersklingenbach, Katzenbach (Schwarzer Kocher), Grimmbach, Großer Wimbach, Gutenbach (Schwarzer Kocher), Rötenbach

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q694805) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit