The old Gipsmühle building in Lauffohr

The Aare is the longest river that exists entirely within Switzerland. It is 288 km (183 miles) long and has a water volume rate of 590 m³/s (source: Wikipedia).

Today a closer view of the building I pointed out yesterday. It used to be a gypsum mill but is now an apartment building. The architects offices can be seen more easily in this photo. The long building in the middle is currently being renovated. Parts of the scaffolding and bare bricks are visible.

Other views of the mill have appeared on this blog:
20080224 The mill seen from the bridge
20090213 Framed II
20090214 The mill and the bridge

20090614

Where the Limmat meets the Aare

I think I've got this right. The Reuss has already joined the Aare about a kilometer upstream. In the background are Turgi and Untersiggenthal. In the foreground the area of Lauffohr. If you're a regular reader, you might find the largish white building on the river bank on the left side of the photo familiar. It's an old mill (gypsum mill - Gipsmühle) converted to housing units, with the barely visible lower building as offices for Architheke, the architectural firm that planned the renovation.

20090614

Sandbank in the Aare at Lauffohr

Further along the hiking trail on Bruggerberg is a wonderful viewing point for the Wasserschloss which is where three important rivers (the Aare, the Reuss and the Limmat) come together. Here a sandbank in the Aare in the region of Lauffohr is visible.

20090614

Vegetables and eggs for sale

Direct sale from the farmer. This one sells various types of vegetables, potatoes and eggs. I haven't a clue what the first line used to say.

20090407 Nikon Coolpix 990

A carpet of flowers II

A walk through the woods is especially rewarding this time of year.

20090407 Nikon Coolpix 990

The mill and the bridge

Retracing our steps a little in this post. The wooden bridge on the right is the one from which I had taken last year's photo (see yesterday's post).

20090203

Framed II

A cut-out in the wall allows a peek at the trees and sky beyond. This old mill building, now converted into apartments, was seen in this post so long ago: 20080224 The mill seen from the bridge.

20090203

The swans

I almost forgot about the swans who live here.

20090203

Moss covered rocks

This Wasserschloss region is always changing and makes for a great place for photography.

20090203

The northern tip of the Aareinsel

As one walks in the direction downstream along the Aare (which has now incorporated the Reuss), one comes to the confluence of the Aare with the Limmat. This whole area is referred to as the Wasserschloss. The word literally means moated castle. About 40% of all of Switzerland's surface water runoff flows through here.

In the background of the photo are some of the Terrassenhäuser of Untersiggenthal. Old post on the topic: 20080529 Terraced apartments.

Google map location here.
Here's a nice write-up about the area in English on a bicycling-tour site: veloland.
Vereinigung Pro Wasserschloss (in German, with nice photos) here. Includes information about the wildlife and plants of the region.
Wikipedia entry about the Wasserschloss (in German) here.

20090203

The Aareinsel in Lauffohr

Part of the small island (Aareinsel) to the north of the bridge between Lauffohr and Vogelsang. Look at this map on Google to see what I mean: link. What's labelled as Lauffohrstrasse is the bridge (well, it's still the old bridge on the satellite images, the new bridge is longer and curved).

Some construction details about the bridge:
October 2007: date the old bridge was demolished and construction started on the replacement
Concrete: material of construction
225 m: length of the bridge
1 month: length of time the contruction was completed before schedule (!)
380 tons: amount of reinforced steel used (1 metric ton = 1000 kg = 2205 lbs)
520 tons: amount of pavement
2: number of columns in the water
(Source: www.azonline.ch)

I don't have any good photos of the bridge to show here. For some beautiful nighttime images of the thing, see these photos by Grendel here and here on Flickr.

20090203

At the Aare in Lauffohr-Vogelsang

Working our way downstream along the Aare from Brugg we arrive in Lauffohr (Vogelsang on the other side). By this time, the river Reuss has already merged with the Aare. There's a crossing over the river here and it has been recently replaced with a new bridge. What you see in this photograph is an natural habitat area for amphibians formed from a diverted section of the river, next to the floodplain area (Auengebiet) of Lauffohr.

This link should take you to the Google map of the area. The image is old and doesn't show the bridge area as it is now.

20090203

By the river in Lauffohr

Just downstream, after the three rivers (Reuss, Limmat and Aare) merge into one (Aare). But still a couple of kilometers upstream from Villigen at this point. This area is becoming one of my favorite areas to photograph.

20080620

Picking strawberries

Today, I found a couple of people harvesting strawberries at yesterday's site. These wheeled seats roll along the spaces in-between the rows and above the plants. They can also be fitted with a sunshade to provide shade for the person.

20080621

Farmed strawberries

A patch of strawberry plants in Lauffohr. I was hoping to capture some harvesting activity, but it looks like I went at the wrong time.

20080620

Apples and plant

A peek through one of the school windows.

20070513

School building

Not so far away from the site in yesterday's post is a school. This is one of the buildings on the 'campus'.

20070513

The mill seen from the bridge

If you look to the left of the wood bridge in yesterday's post, you'll see this building. The Gipsmühle, as far as I've been able to determine. I don't know what it was they milled here, but there are many such mills all along the rivers.

20080207

The little wood bridge

Still at Lauffohr, at the rivers.

20080207

The Limmat flowing into the Aare

The Limmat is in the background and the Aare at the front. There's a weir near the far bank if you look closely. There are many small power generating stations all along these rivers and this is one of them.

I made a movie of this area to try to convey how the currents flow as the rivers merge. About 52 seconds long.

20080207