Main River

Main River, river, an important right- (east-) bank tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It is formed, near Kulmbach, by the confluence of the Weisser (White) Main, which rises in the Fichtel Mountains, and the Roter (Red) Main, which rises on the eastern slope of the Fränkische Mountains (Franconian Jura). The Main River flows southwesterly around the northern end of the Fränkische Mountains to Bamberg, where the Regnitz River enters it from the left. From there the Main flows south and east among vine-clad hills to Würzburg and then north between the forest-covered Spessart and Odenwald ranges to Gemünden, where the Fränkische Saale River enters from the right. Turning abruptly to the south, it receives the Tauber River from the left at Wertheim and continues west and then north to Aschaffenburg. From there, a generally westward course takes the river through Frankfurt am Main to its junction with the Rhine River above Mainz after a course of 326 miles (524 km). The river has been canalized upstream to Bamberg and forms part of the Main-Danube Canal (completed 1992), which links the Rhine and Danube rivers, creating a 2,200-mile (3,500-km) waterway from the North Sea to the Black Sea.