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River

Moselle

544 km from source to mouth · Germany, France and Luxembourg.

GermanyFranceLuxembourgGermany, France and LuxembourgFlows into Rhine1st longest in Germany

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

544km

Average flow

320m³/s

Basin

28,286km²

Drop

359m

from 419 m to 60 m

Countries

3

The journey

From source to mouth

544 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 43 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

419 m60 m
Moselle River Sourceat 419 m0 km
Épinal32,251 people57 km
Madontributary133 km
Toul15,768 people151 km
Metz122,572 people229 km
Thionville42,658 people261 km
Konz18,099 people331 km
Trier105,054 people339 km
Bernkastel-Kues6,682 people406 km
Cochem4,897 people473 km
Rhineat 60 m544 km
0200400544 km
  1. 0 kmMoselle River Sourceat 419 m
  2. 24 kmcascade de Miraumont
  3. 26 kmMoselottetributary
  4. 27 kmRemiremont7,388 people
  5. 42 kmVolognetributary
  6. 42 kmNichetributary
  7. 57 kmÉpinal32,251 people
  8. 60 kmGolbey8,832 people
  9. 81 kmAvièretributary
  10. 87 kmCharmes4,484 people
  11. 128 kmNeuves-Maisons6,524 people
  12. 130 kmChaligny2,729 people
  13. 133 kmMadontributary
  14. 148 kmBouvadestributary
  15. 150 kmDommartin-lès-Toul2,013 people
  16. 151 kmToul15,768 people
  17. 169 kmLiverdun5,580 people
  18. 176 kmFrouard6,444 people
  19. 176 kmPompey4,780 people
  20. 179 kmCustines3,089 people
  21. 179 kmMeurthetributary
  22. 189 kmDieulouard4,581 people
  23. 194 kmEschtributary
  24. 194 kmTreytributary
  25. 194 kmBlénod-lès-Pont-à-Mousson4,659 people
  26. 197 kmPont-à-Mousson14,190 people
  27. 211 kmRupt de Madtributary
  28. 214 kmCorny-sur-Moselle2,168 people
  29. 219 kmArs-sur-Moselle4,616 people
  30. 224 kmMoulins-lès-Metz5,265 people
  31. 226 kmMontigny-lès-Metz21,718 people
  32. 228 kmLe Ban-Saint-Martin4,684 people
  33. 229 kmMetz122,572 people
  34. 231 kmSeilletributary
  35. 232 kmSaint-Julien-lès-Metz3,554 people
  36. 240 kmArgancy1,381 people
  37. 245 kmTalange8,120 people
  38. 247 kmHagondange9,278 people
  39. 247 kmMondelange5,699 people
  40. 250 kmBousse3,236 people
  41. 252 kmOrnetributary
  42. 252 kmGuénange8,083 people
  43. 254 kmUckange7,021 people
  44. 259 kmFenschtributary
  45. 261 kmThionville42,658 people
  46. 262 kmYutz17,391 people
  47. 263 kmManom3,137 people
  48. 268 kmBasse-Ham2,349 people
  49. 270 kmCattenom2,580 people
  50. 284 kmGandertributary
  51. 287 kmPerl9,405 people
  52. 296 kmRemich4,156 people
  53. 324 kmSyretributary
  54. 325 kmSauertributary
  55. 330 kmSaartributary
  56. 331 kmKonz18,099 people
  57. 339 kmTrier105,054 people
  58. 346 kmOlewiger Bachtributary
  59. 346 kmRuwertributary
  60. 348 kmKylltributary
  61. 354 kmSchweich7,663 people
  62. 376 kmSalmtributary
  63. 400 kmDhrontributary
  64. 400 kmLiesertributary
  65. 406 kmBernkastel-Kues6,682 people
  66. 430 kmTraben-Trarbach5,399 people
  67. 473 kmCochem4,897 people
  68. 491 kmBrohlbach (Moselle)tributary
  69. 526 kmKoblenz113,020 people
  70. 544 kmRhineat 60 m

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

River in Western Europe

At the mouth it carries 315 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 7.9 seconds. It drops from 419 m to 60 m, 0.7 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 28,286 km², about the size of SB. 33.0 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to March. Its dams hold back little of its water (3.0% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • MetzLargest city on its banks · 122,572 people
  • Metz-Nancy-Lorraine Airport (ETZ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 16 km from the cityCar hire at ETZ airport (Goin)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water239 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Moselle, month by month

Highest water: from December to March

Best months to visit: from June to September.

3,100
1°61 mmJan
3,100
2°54 mmFeb
2,600
5°53 mmMar
1,800
9°48 mmApr
1,500
13°67 mmMay
1,400
16°71 mmJun
1,300
18°67 mmJul
1,500
17°72 mmAug
1,400
15°59 mmSep
1,400
10°56 mmOct
2,000
5°65 mmNov
2,600
2°68 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 1,300 m³/s in the lowest month to 3,100 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

Car hire at ETZ airport (Goin)Discover CarsSee 

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

Moselle: the basin in numbers

137,689 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 3.0% of a year's flow.
  • 33.0millionpeople live in the basin
  • 242/km²people per km²
  • 532maverage altitude of the basin
  • 880mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 8.1°Caverage air temperature
  • 23%protected areas
  • 1.0%covered by lakes
  • 2.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 45% Forest
  • 23% Cropland
  • 17% Pasture
  • 14% 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

Moselle: what you find on the way

  • 43DamsTurbine du Moulin, Barrage de Villey-le-Sec, Barrage de Pompey Frouard and 40 more
  • 132WeirsBarrage des Graviers, Barrage de Mainqueyon, Barrage Usine Zainvillers and 129 more
  • 266LocksCanal des Vosges and 265 more
  • 22WaterfallsCascade des Graviers, Saut de la Cuve, Cascade de Miraumont and 19 more
  • 124Boat rampsSlipanlage Nennig, Alte Fährrampe Igel, Alte Fährrampe Reinig and 121 more
  • 40Ferry piersMoulins-lès-Metz, Scy-Chazelles, Longeville Centre and 37 more
  • 66MarinasPort de Plaisance d'Épinal, Halte fluviale de la cote Olie, Halte Nautique de Thaon les Vosges and 63 more
  • 9Boat rentalsVosges canoë, Base nautique de Messein, Amicale Laïque de Neuves-Maisons section Canoë Kayak and 6 more
  • 4River beachesMainqueyon, Woippy Plage, Plage du club de voile and 1 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Moselle 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.

  • 1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
  • 86mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (1)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. cascade de Miraumontkm 22

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Mountains at the source (86)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Ballon d'Alsace8.2 km away · prominence 520 m1,247m
  2. Storkenkopf14 km away · prominence 133 m1,366m
  3. Rainkopf15 km away1,305m
  4. Rothenbachkopf14 km away1,315m
  5. Klintzkopf14 km away1,330m
  6. Batteriekopf13 km away1,311m
  7. Le Lauchenkopf13 km away1,314m
  8. Trehkopf10 km away1,266m

78 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Moselle: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Moselle: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth51 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

Moselle in pictures

Schweicher Annaberg
Areks · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pont ferroviaire Moselle Liverdun DSCF1881
Musicaline · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cochem, Moselpromenade
Rolf Kranz · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hochmoselbrücke07-Mai-2017
Störfix · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

RhineThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/s

Tributaries (83)

SaarGermanyGermany246 km78 m³/sjoins at km 305SauerGermanyGermany173 km220 m³/sjoins at km 301MeurtheFranceFrance161 km41 m³/sjoins at km 165SeilleFranceFrance138 km9.8 m³/sjoins at km 214

Also: Kyll, Ruwer, Vologne, Syre, Madon, Elzbach, Rupt de Mad, Salm, Alf, Moselotte, Orne, Lieser, Gander, Fensch, Feller Bach, Avière, Brohlbach (Moselle), Durbion, Canner, Donwerbaach, Aspeler Bach, Föhrenbach (Mosel), Dhron, Niche

In the same basin

MainGermanyGermany524 km200 m³/sAareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/sNeckarGermanyGermany362 km140 m³/sLahnGermanyGermany242 km54 m³/sRuhrGermanyGermany217 km79 m³/sLippeGermanyGermany255 km240 m³/sReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/sIllFranceFrance217 km54 m³/sLimmatSwitzerlandSwitzerland140 km100 m³/sSaane/SarineSwitzerlandSwitzerland126 km54 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

MainGermanyGermany524 km200 m³/s65 km awayLahnGermanyGermany242 km54 m³/s55 km awaySiegGermanyGermany155 km52 m³/s60 km awayNaheGermanyGermany125 km32 m³/s49 km awayNeckarGermanyGermany362 km140 m³/s113 km awaySaarGermanyGermany246 km78 m³/s106 km awayNiddaGermanyGermany90 km13 m³/s73 km awayWupperGermanyGermany115 km17 m³/s88 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q1667) · 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 atlasesCascadyas, Peakyas — 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