The Otterbach rises in the area of the Upper
Mundat Forest in the southeast of the
Palatine Forest. Its source lies at a height of about 300 metres on the hillside east of
Guttenberg Castle between the
Hohe Derst (561 m high, to the north) and the
Hoher Kopf (497 m high, to the south). After breaking out of the low mountain range into the
Upper Rhine Valley, the Otterbach flows through the two villages named after it,
Oberotterbach and
Niederotterbach, then through
Vollmersweiler and
Freckenfeld, where it passes the northern edge of the
Bienwald woods. In
Minfeld it is joined from the left by the
Dierbach, and then forms the border between the districts of
Kandel and
Wörth. In Kandel, the
Bruchbach enters it from the right. The Otterbach
meanders markedly on its way through
Jockgrim. After it has passed through
Neupotz, it is impounded southeast of
Leimersheim to form the
Fischmal, a reservoir 1½ kilometres long and up to 100 metres wide that is a
biotope for many aquatic birds and plants. Whilst some of the Otterbach's waters are diverted to the right through a pumping station on the Rhine embankment directly into the
Rhine itself, the left-hand branch of the river flows through the village of Leimersheim and is united there with the
Erlenbach coming from the left to form the
Michelsbach. This is a former loop of the
Old Rhine that discharges after a good twelve kilometres from the left into the Rhine. Despite the route of its lower reaches, the Otterbach is counted as a direct tributary of the Rhine (or the Leimersheim Old Rhine -
Leimersheimer Altrheins - flowing eastwards), something that is also acknowledged by the
GKZs (Michelsbach 2375
4, Otterbach 2375
22).. == See also ==