Pletschbach
A left-bank tributary of the Rhine that is mostly just a dry ditch, carrying water permanently only from the Worringer Bruch onward.
The ditch runs through the Neuss district between Dormagen and Köln-Worringen, and for most of its length there is no flowing water at all.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- Left-bank tributary of the Rhine
- Course
- Between Dormagen and Köln-Worringen, in the Neuss district
- Water flow
- Dry ditch for long stretches; permanent water only from the Worringer Bruch onward
- Mouth
- Worringer Hafen, where it joins the Rhine together with the Kölner Randkanal
- Mouth area
- Worringen district, Chorweiler borough
- Notable feature
- Original springs dried up because of lignite mining
The Pletschbach is now a dry ditch for much of its course: lignite mining lowered the groundwater so much that all its springs in the Knechtsteden forest ran dry, and even the water RWE feeds in is not enough to flood the ditches.
Vanished Springs
The springs once rose at several feeder streams in the Knechtstedener Wald. Lignite mining and the resulting lowering of the groundwater caused all of them to dry up. At two points RWE does feed water into the connected Knechtstedener Graben, but the amount is not enough to fill the dry ditches.
Course as a Dry Ditch
Between Knechtsteden and Delhoven, the Pletschbach is recognizable only as a dry ditch. At the Delhoven sports ground, rainwater infiltration gives it water for the first time, but this soon seeps away into the ground again. The ditch can be followed on toward Hackenbroich, though it ends there at the level of the Waldsee.
Interrupted Historic Course
The stream used to continue through Hackenbroich, feeding the moats of Burg Hackenbroich and then flooding the moats of the former moated castle Arff. This section is now broken. Only from around Schloss Arff onward does the ditch, still dry, reappear.
Route to the Rhine
Heading southwest, the dry ditch passes under the Kölner Randkanal and the A57, then crosses the Worringer Landstraße toward the Worringer Bruch. From here the Pletschbach carries water permanently and runs west of the B9 along the edge of the Rhine floodplain to the Worringer Hafen, where it flows into the Rhine together with the Kölner Randkanal.
Map
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Sources & links
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-09-21
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