text:
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Often called the "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali" (the King of Kings of Qawwali), he is considered by The New York Times to be the greatest Qawwali singer of all time. He was described as the fourth greatest singer of all time by LA Weekly in 2016. He was known for his vocal abilities and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours. Khan is widely credited with introducing Qawwali music to international audiences. He was also a master of Hindustani classical music.

Born in Lyallpur (Faisalabad), Khan had his first public performance at the age of 15 at his father's chelum. He became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971 and brought his unique style of sargam, khayal, and rhythm to his family's legacy. He was signed by Oriental Star Agencies, Birmingham, England, in the early 1980s. Khan went on to release movie scores and albums in Europe, India, Japan, Pakistan, and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music artist. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries. In addition to popularising qawwali music, he also had a profound impact on contemporary South Asian popular music, including Pakistani pop, Indian pop, and Bollywood music.

Early life and career
Khan was born into a Punjabi Muslim family in Lyallpur (modern-day Faisalabad), Punjab, Pakistan, in 1948. Khan's family had emigrated from Basti Sheikh Darvesh to Jalandhar in the 1000s. His ancestors learned music and singing there and adopted it as a profession. He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan, a musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and qawwal. Khan's family, which included four older sisters and a younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, grew up in central Faisalabad. The tradition of qawwali in the family has been passed down through successive generations for almost 600 years. Initially, his father did not want Khan to follow the family's vocation. He had his heart set on Nusrat choosing a much more respectable career path and becoming a doctor or engineer because he felt qawwali artists had low social status. However, Khan showed such an aptitude for and interest in qawwali, that his father finally relented.

In 1971, after the death of his uncle Mubarak Ali Khan, Khan became the official leader of the family qawwali party, and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organized by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu and Punjabi and occasionally in Persian, Braj Bhasha, and Hindi. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Khan's sargam improvisations.

Later career
In the summer of 1985, Khan performed at the World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival in London. He performed in Paris in 1985 and 1988. He first visited Japan in 1987 at the invitation of the Japan Foundation. He performed at the 5th Asian Traditional Performing Art Festival in Japan. He also performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, in 1989, earning him admiration from the American audience.

Khan, throughout his career, had great understanding with many south Asian artists such as Alam Lohar, Noor Jehan, A. R. Rahman, Asha Bhosle, Javed Akhtar, and Lata Mangeshkar.

In the 1992 -1993 academic year, Khan was a visiting artist in the Ethnomusicology department at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States.

In 1988, Khan teamed up with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ, which led to Khan being signed to Gabriel's Real World label. He would go on to release five albums of traditional qawwali through Real World, along with the more experimental albums Mustt Mustt (1990), Night Song (1996), and the posthumous remix album Star Rise (1997).

In 1989, commissioned by Oriental Star Agencies Ltd in Birmingham, UK, Khan collaborated at Zella Recording Studios with composer Andrew Kristy and producer Johnny Haynes on a series of 'fusion' tracks that propelled Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party into the Channel 4 Christmas Special of "Big World Café." While in the UK in 1989, Khan and his party performed Sikh devotional music at a Sikh Gurdwara in Slough, continuing a tradition of Muslims performing hymns at Sikh temples.

Following this, in 1990, the BBC devoted a programme of its series Network East to this collaboration, and Big World Café invited Khan, Andrew Kristy, and violinist Nigel Kennedy to perform Allah Hoo live on the show. A UK tour performing these new fusion tracks happened in 1990.

Khan's experimental work for Real World, which featured his collaborations with the Canadian guitarist Michael Brook, led to several further collaborations with other Western composers and rock musicians. One of these collaborations occurred in 1995, when Khan teamed up with Pearl Jam's lead singer Eddie Vedder on two songs for the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. Khan also provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle, which was put together by Jonathan Elias, but died before the tracks could be completed. Alanis Morissette was brought in to sing alongside his unfinished vocals. In 2002, Gabriel included Khan's vocals on the track "Signal to Noise" on his album Up.

Khan's album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1997. That same year, his album Night Song was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.

Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he composed music for three Bollywood films, which include the film Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, in which he also sang "Koi Jaane Koi Na Jaane" on-screen with the lead pair, and "Zindagi Jhoom Kar." He also composed music for Kartoos, where he sang for "Ishq Da Rutba" and "Bahaa Na Aansoo" alongside Udit Narayan. He died shortly before the movie's release. His final music composition for Bollywood was for the movie Kachche Dhaage, where he sang "Iss Shaan-E-Karam Ka Kya Kehna." The movie was released in 1999, two years after his death. The two singing sisters of Bollywood, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar, sang the songs he composed in his brief stint in Bollywood. He also sang "Saya Bhi Saath Jab Chhod Jaye" for Sunny Deol's movie Dillagi. The song was released in 1999, two years after Khan's death. He also sang "Dulhe Ka Sehra" from the Bollywood movie Dhadkan ,which was released in 2000.

Khan contributed the song "Gurus of Peace" to the 1997 album Vande Mataram, composed by A. R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. As a posthumous tribute, Rahman later released an album titled Gurus of Peace which included "Allah Hoo" by Khan. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina" for the film Guru was also composed as a tribute to Khan.

Shaukat Khanum Hospital fundraising event
Khan was the main performer at Imran Khan's charity appeal concert at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel on December 3, 1992 to raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, a cancer hospital built in Imran's mother's name which provides free services.

The audience included Peter Gabriel, Elizabeth Hurley, Mick Jagger, and Amitabh Bachchan.

Death
Khan was overweight in his later years; various reports stated that he weighed over 137 kilograms (300 pounds). He had been seriously ill for several months, according to a spokesperson at his U.S. label, American Recordings. After travelling to London from his native Pakistan for treatment for liver and kidney problems, he was rushed from the airport to the Cromwell Hospital in London, where he died of a sudden cardiac arrest on 16 August 1997, aged 48. His body was repatriated to Faisalabad, and his funeral was a public affair. His wife, Naheed Nusrat, moved to Canada after the death of her husband, where she died on 13 September 2013 in Mississauga, Ontario. Khan's musical legacy is now carried forward by his nephews, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Rizwan-Muazzam.

Awards and titles
Khan is widely considered to be the most important qawwal in history. In 1987, he received the President of Pakistan's Award for Pride of Performance for his contribution to Pakistani music. In 1995, he received the UNESCO Music Prize. In 1996 he was awarded Grand Prix des Amériques at Montreal World Film Festival for exceptional contribution to the art of cinema. In the same year, Khan received the Arts and Culture Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes. In Japan, he was also remembered as the Budai or "Singing Buddha."

In 1997, he was nominated for two Grammy Awards, for Best Traditional Folk Album and Best World Music Album. In 1998, he was awarded PTV Life Time Achievement Award. As of 2001, he held the Guinness World Record for the "Most Qawwali Recordings", having recorded over 125 qawwali albums before his death. In 2005, Khan posthumously received the "Legends" award at the UK Asian Music Awards. Time magazine's issue of 6 November 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes", lists him as one of the top 12 artists and thinkers in the last 60 years. He also appeared on NPR's 50 great voices list in 2010. In August 2010 he was included in CNN's list of the twenty most iconic musicians from the past fifty years. In 2008, Khan was listed in 14th position in UGO's list of the best singers of all time.

Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Khan during his 25-year music career. He was given the title of Ustad (the master) after performing classical music at a function in Lahore on the anniversary of his father's death.

Khan was listed at position 91 on Rolling Stone's 200 Best Singers Of All Time list, which was published on January 1, 2023.

He was called the ‘Singing Buddha' in Tokyo, ‘The Voice of Paradise' in Los Angeles, ‘Quintessence of the Human Voice' in Tunis, ‘The Spirit of Islam' in London, ‘Pavarotti of the East' in Paris, ‘Emperor of Qawwali' (Shahenshah - e - Qawwali) in Lahore.

Tributes, legacy and influence

Khan is often credited as one of the progenitors of "world music." Widely acclaimed for his spiritual charisma and distinctive exuberance, he was one of the first and most important artists to popularize qawwali, then considered an "arcane religious tradition", to Western audiences. His powerful vocal presentations, which could last up to 10 hours, brought forth a craze for his music all over Europe. Alexandra A. Seno of Asiaweek wrote:

"Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice was otherworldly. For 25 years, his mystical songs transfixed millions. It was not long enough ... He performed qawwali, which means wise or philosophical utterance, as nobody else of his generation did. His vocal range, talent for improvisation and sheer intensity were unsurpassed."

Jeff Buckley cited Khan as a major influence, saying of him "He's my Elvis", and performing the first few minutes of Khan's "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai" (including vocals) at live concerts. Many other artists have also cited Khan as an influence, such as Nadia Ali, Zayn Malik, Malay, Peter Gabriel, A. R. Rahman, Sheila Chandra, Alim Qasimov, Eddie Vedder, and Joan Osborne, among others. His music was also appreciated by singers such as Mick Jagger, socialites such as Parmeshwar Godrej, actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Trudie Styler, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins, and authors such as Sam Harris, who cited Khan as one of his favourite musicians.

Paul Williams picked a concert performance by Khan for inclusion in his 2000 book The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: a 'top-40' list, in which he devotes a chapter each to what he considers the top 40 artistic achievements of the 20th century in any field (including art, movies, music, fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction). The Derek Trucks Band covers Khan's songs on two of their studio albums. Their 2002 album Joyful Noise includes a cover of "Maki Madni", which features a guest performance by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Khan's nephew. 2005's Songlines includes a medley of two of Khan's songs, "Sahib Teri Bandi" and "Maki Madni." This medley first appeared on the band's live album Live at Georgia Theatre (2004).

In 2004, a tribute band called Brooklyn Qawwali Party (formerly Brook's Qawwali Party) was formed in New York City by percussionist Brook Martinez to perform the music of Khan. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Khan's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.

In 2007, electronic music producer and performer Gaudi, after being granted access to back catalogue recordings from Rehmat Gramophone House (Khan's former label in Pakistan), released an album of entirely new songs composed around existing vocals. The album, Dub Qawwali, was released by Six Degrees Records. It reached no. 2 in the iTunes US Chart, no. 4 in the UK and was the no. 1 seller in Amazon.com's Electronic Music section for a period. It also earned Gaudi a nomination for the BBC's World Music Awards 2008.

On 13 October 2015, Google celebrated Khan's 67th birthday with a doodle on its homepage in six countries, including India, Pakistan, Japan, Sweden, Ghana, and Kenya, calling him the person "who opened the world's ears to the rich, hypnotic sounds of the Sufis." "Thanks to his legendary voice, Khan helped bring 'world music' to the world," said Google.

In February 2016, a rough mix of a song recorded by Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1998 called "Circle of the Noose" was leaked to the internet. Guitarist Dave Navarro described the song saying, "It's pop in the sense of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, hook. I really love it and we use a loop of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It's really nice. The best way I can describe it is it's like pepped- up '60s folk with '90s ideals, but I would hate to label it as folk because it's not, it moves."

The 2018 book The Displaced Children of Displaced Children (Eyewear Publishing) by Pakistani American poet Faisal Mohyuddin includes the poem "Faisalabad", a tribute to Khan and to the city of Khan's birth. "Faisalabad" includes a number or references to Khan, including the excerpt, "There are no better cures for homesickness / than Nusrat's qawwalis, / except when you're a mother / and you find comfort in the unfolding / hours of a child's existence." The poem was first published by Narrative Magazine in Spring 2017.

Popular culture
One of Khan's famous qawwali songs, "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda" ("I am restless without you"), appeared on two of his 1996 albums, Sorrows Vol. 69 and Sangam (as "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda Dil"), the latter a collaborative album with Indian lyricist Javed Akhtar; Sangam sold over 1million copies in India. Lata Mangeshkar recorded a cover version called "Tere Bin Nahin Jeena" for Kachche Dhaage, starring Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Manisha Koirala. Composed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Kachche Dhaage soundtrack album sold 3million units in India. British-Indian producer Bally Sagoo released a remix of "Tere Bin Nahin Lagda", which was later featured in the 2002 British film Bend It Like Beckham, starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley. A cover version called "Tere Bin" was recorded by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan with Asees Kaur for the 2018 Bollywood film Simmba, starring Ranveer Singh and Sara Ali Khan.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's music had a big impact on Bollywood music, inspiring numerous Indian musicians working in Bollywood since the late 1980s. For example, he inspired A. R. Rahman and Javed Akhtar, both of whom he collaborated with. However, there were many hit filmi songs from other Indian music directors that plagiarised Khan's music. For example, Viju Shah's hit song "Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast" in Mohra (1994) was plagiarised from Khan's popular qawwali song "Dam Mast Qalandar."

Despite the significant number of hit Bollywood songs plagiarised from his music, he was reportedly tolerant towards the plagiarism. In one interview, he jokingly gave "Best Copy" awards to Viju Shah and Anu Malik. In his defense, Malik claimed that he loved Khan's music and was actually showing admiration by using his tunes. However, Khan was reportedly aggrieved when Malik turned his spiritual "Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo" into "I Love You, I Love You" in Auzaar. Khan said "he has taken my devotional song Allahu and converted it into I love you. He should at least respect my religious songs."

His music also appears on soundtracks for Hollywood films such as The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Natural Born Killers (1994) and Dead Man Walking (1995).

title: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan


text:
Gnocchi

Gnocchi (, ;    ; : gnocco) are a varied family of dumplings in Italian cuisine. They are made of small lumps of dough, such as those composed of a simple combination of wheat flour, potato, egg, and salt. Variations of the dish supplement the simple recipe with flavour additives, such as semolina flour, cheese, breadcrumbs, cornmeal or similar ingredients,   and possibly including herbs, vegetables, and other ingredients. Base ingredients may be substituted with alternatives such as sweet potatoes for potatoes or rice flour for wheat flour. Such variations are often considered to be non-traditional.

Gnocchi are commonly cooked in salted boiling water and then dressed with various sauces. They are usually eaten as a first course (primo) as an alternative to soups (minestre) or pasta, but they can also be served as a contorno (side dish) to some main courses. Common accompaniments of gnocchi include melted butter with sage, pesto, as well as various sauces. Gnocchi may be homemade, made by specialty stores, or produced industrially and distributed refrigerated, dried, or frozen. Small soup gnocchi are sometimes made by pressing the dough through a coarse sieve or a perforated spoon.

Origin
The word gnocchi may be derived from the Italian word nocchio, meaning 'a knot in wood', or from nocca, meaning 'knuckle'. It has been a traditional type of Italian pasta since Roman times. It was introduced by the Roman legions during the expansion of the empire into the countries of the European continent. One ancient Roman recipe consists of a semolina porridge-like dough mixed with eggs; similar modern dishes include the baked gnocchi alla romana and Sardinian malloreddus, which do not contain eggs.

After potatoes were introduced to Europe, they were eventually incorporated into gnocchi recipes. Potato gnocchi are particularly popular in Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and Lazio.

Ingredients and preparation
Ingredients typically include wheat flour, potato, egg, and salt. Variations of the dish supplement the simple recipe with flavour additives, such as semolina flour, cheese, breadcrumbs, cornmeal or similar ingredients,   and possibly including herbs, vegetables, and other ingredients.

The dough for gnocchi is often rolled out before it is cut into small pieces about the size of a wine cork or smaller. The dumplings may be pressed with a textured object, such as a fork or a cheese grater, to make ridges or cut into little lumps. Professional tools exist for this purpose, known as gnocchi or cavarola boards.

Gnocchi that are homemade are usually consumed the same day they are made. However, they can be cut into bite-sized dumplings, spread evenly on a baking sheet, frozen, then packaged in an air-tight bag and back into the freezer for later consumption. This method can allow the gnocchi to last two months in the freezer.

Commercial gnocchi are often sold under modified atmospheric packaging and may achieve a shelf life of two weeks or more under refrigeration. Some are sold in vacuum packaging that is shelf-stable, only needing refrigeration once it is opened.

Varieties
Gnocchi vary in recipe and name across different regions.

Regional
Lombard and Tuscan malfatti (lit. 'poorly made') are made with ricotta, flour, and spinach, as well as the addition of various other herbs if required. Tuscan gnudi distinctively contains less flour; but some varieties are flour-based, such as the Campanian strangulaprievete, the Apulian cavatelli, the Sardinian malloreddus, and so on. Certain kinds are made of cooked polenta or semolina, which is spread out to dry, layered with cheese and butter, and baked.

Gnocchi di pane (lit. 'bread lumps'), derived from the Semmelknödel, is made from breadcrumbs and is popular in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and Trentino-Alto Adige. Another variety from the latter region is spinach gnocchi.

Austria
In Austria, gnocchi are a common main or side dish, known by the original name and Austrian variant, nockerl (: nockerln). As a side dish, they may accompany main dishes such as goulash.

Croatia
Gnocchi are very popular and often served as a dish in coastal Croatia, typically being served as a first course or a side dish with dalmatinska pašticada. The Croatian name for gnocchi is njoki.

Slovenia
Gnocchi, known locally as njoki, are common in Slovenia's Primorska region, which shares many of its culinary traditions with neighboring Italy.

Poland
An almost identical creation are kluski leniwe ('lazy dumplings'), but these do not contain egg. They are often seasoned with various spices such as pepper, cinnamon or allspice. Similar in shape are kopytka ('hooves'), simple dough dumplings in the shape of a diamond, which do not contain cheese. Both are often served with sour cream, butter, caramelized onion, mushroom sauce or gravy.

France
In France, gnocchis à la parisienne is a hot dish of dumplings made of choux pastry served with béchamel sauce.

A specialty of Nice, gnocchi or gnoques de tantifla a la nissarda are made with potatoes, wheat flour, and eggs. Another version including blette (Swiss chard) is called merda dé can (lit. 'dog shit' ).

In Provence, potatoes gnocchis can be made in a longer shape and called longettes.

South America
Due to the significant number of Italian immigrants who arrived in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, gnocchi, ñoqui, or nhoque , is a popular dish, even in areas with few Italian immigrants. In Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, there is a tradition of eating gnocchi on the 29th of each month, with some people putting money beneath their plates to bring prosperity. Indeed, in Argentina and Uruguay ñoqui is slang for a bogus employee (according to corrupt accountancy practices or, in the public sector, the distribution of political patronage), who only turns up at the end of the month to receive their salary.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Gnocchi


text:
Neckar

The Neckar is a 362 km river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenningen in the Schwenninger Moos conservation area at a height of 706 m above sea level, it passes through Rottweil, Rottenburg am Neckar, Kilchberg, Tübingen, Wernau, Nürtingen, Plochingen, Esslingen, Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg, Marbach, Heilbronn and Heidelberg, before discharging on average 145 m3/s of water into the Rhine at Mannheim, at 95 m above sea level, making the Neckar its 4th largest tributary, and the 10th largest river in Germany. Since 1968, the Neckar has been navigable for cargo ships via 27 locks for about 200 km upstream from Mannheim to the river port of Plochingen, at the confluence with the Fils.

From Plochingen to Stuttgart, the Neckar valley is densely populated and heavily industrialised, with several well-known companies. Between Stuttgart and Lauffen, the Neckar cuts a scenic, meandering, and in many places steep-sided, valley into fossiliferous Triassic limestones and Pleistocene travertine. Along the Neckar's valley in the Odenwald hills many castles can be found, including Hornberg Castle and Guttenberg Castle in Haßmersheim; the now-mothballed Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant and the active Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant are also located there.

Traditionally the fertile plains have been intensively used for agriculture and its steep valley sides as vineyards.

Etymology
The name Neckar may be derived from Nicarus and Neccarus from Celtic Nikros, meaning wild water or wild fellow. The grammatical gender of the name in German is masculine (der Neckar).

River course
Drainage area

Tributaries
The largest tributaries of the Neckar are the Enz with the largest drainage area, the Kocher with the highest average water drainage and the longest one, the Jagst. The Kocher tributary Lein is at its end not only longer than the Kocher, but also more water-abundant. Therefore, according to hydrographic convention, the Lein would have to be regarded as the main river of the Kocher water system, making it with then 201 kilometers the longest tributary of the Neckar.

Tributaries with 20 km length and more
Named from source to mouth. According to LUBW-BRSWEB, LUBW-FG10, LUBW-GEZG and TK25. Drainage area mostly according to LUBW-GEZG, else measured on the background map. Distances preferably according to the data sets of the LUBW-FG10, rarely measured on the background map. Namen preverably according to TK25.

 * Eschach (left tributary at Rottweil-Bühlingen, 38.1 km)
 * Prim (right tributary at Rottweil, 21.1 km)
 * Schlichem (right tributary at Epfendorf, 34.4 km)
 * Glatt (left tributary at Horb-Neckarhausen, 34.2 km)
 * Eyach (right tributary at Bf. Eyach, community Eutingen im Gäu, 50.4 km)
 * Starzel (right tributary at Rottenburg-Bieringen, 42.8 km)
 * Steinlach (right tributary at Tübingen, 25.1 km)
 * Ammer (left tributary at Tübingen-Lustnau, 22.5 km)
 * Echaz (right tributary at Kirchentellinsfurt, 22.8 km)
 * Erms (right tributary at Neckartenzlingen, 32.7 km)
 * Aich (left tributary at Nürtingen-Oberensingen, 30.4 km)
 * Lauter (right tributary at Wendlingen, 25.7 km)
 * Fils (right tributary at Plochingen, 62.8 km)
 * Körsch (left tributary west of Deizisau, 26.3 km)
 * Rems (right tributary at Remseck, 78.4 km)
 * Murr (right tributary at Marbach, 51.5 km)
 * Enz (left tributary at Besigheim, 105.5 km)
 * Zaber (left tributary at Lauffen, 22.4 km)
 * Schozach (right tributary at Heilbronn-Sontheim, 25.6 km)
 * Lein (left tributary at Heilbronn-Neckargartach, 27.3 km)
 * Sulm (right tributary at Neckarsulm, 26.2 km)
 * Kocher (right tributary at Bad Friedrichshall-Kochendorf, 168.7 km)
 * Jagst (right tributary at Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld, 190.2 km)
 * Elz (right tributary at Mosbach-Neckarelz, 39.8 km)
 * Itter (right tributary at Eberbach, 28.0 km)
 * Laxbach (right tributary at Hirschhorn, 30.0 km with the longest headwaters)
 * Steinach (right tributary at Neckarsteinach, 21.9 km)
 * Elsenz (left tributary at Neckargemünd, 53.4 km)

Cities and municipalities
The Neckar touches, from the source to the mouth, the following districts, cities and municipalities:

 * Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis: Villingen-Schwenningen, Dauchingen
 * Landkreis Rottweil: Deißlingen, Villingendorf, Rottweil, Epfendorf, Oberndorf am Neckar, Sulz am Neckar
 * Landkreis Freudenstadt: Horb am Neckar, Eutingen im Gäu (Weitinger Mühle)
 * Landkreis Tübingen: Starzach (municipality districts Börstingen and Sulzau), Rottenburg am Neckar, Tübingen, Kirchentellinsfurt
 * Landkreis Reutlingen: Reutlingen (municipality districts Altenburg, Oferdingen and Mittelstadt), Pliezhausen
 * Landkreis Esslingen: Neckartenzlingen, Neckartailfingen, Nürtingen, Oberboihingen, Unterensingen, Wendlingen am Neckar, Köngen, Wernau (Neckar), Plochingen, Deizisau, Altbach, Esslingen am Neckar
 * Stuttgart (urban district), city districts Obertürkheim, Hedelfingen, Wangen, Untertürkheim, Stuttgart-Ost, Bad Cannstatt, Münster, Hofen, Mühlhausen)
 * Rems-Murr-Kreis: Fellbach (municipality district Oeffingen; only right shore)
 * Landkreis Ludwigsburg: Remseck am Neckar, Ludwigsburg (municipality districts Poppenweiler, Hoheneck and Neckarweihingen), Marbach am Neckar, Benningen am Neckar, Freiberg am Neckar, Pleidelsheim, Ingersheim, Mundelsheim, Hessigheim, Besigheim, Walheim, Gemmrigheim, Kirchheim am Neckar
 * Landkreis Heilbronn: Neckarwestheim, Lauffen am Neckar, Talheim, Nordheim
 * Heilbronn (urban district)
 * Landkreis Heilbronn: Neckarsulm, Untereisesheim, Bad Friedrichshall, Bad Wimpfen, Offenau, Bad Rappenau (municipality district Heinsheim), Gundelsheim
 * Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis: Haßmersheim, Neckarzimmern, Mosbach (municipality districts Neckarelz and Diedesheim), Obrigheim, Binau, Neckargerach, Zwingenberg
 * Rhein-Neckar-Kreis: Eberbach, Schönbrunn (Baden)
 * Kreis Bergstraße (Hessen): Hirschhorn (Neckar), Neckarsteinach
 * Rhein-Neckar-Kreis: Neckargemünd
 * Heidelberg (urban district), city districts Schlierbach, Ziegelhausen, Neuenheim, Altstadt, Bergheim, Wieblingen
 * Rhein-Neckar-Kreis: Dossenheim (municipality districts Schwabenheim), Edingen-Neckarhausen, Ladenburg, Ilvesheim
 * Mannheim (urban district), city districts Seckenheim, Feudenheim, Neuostheim, Oststadt, Neckarstadt-Ost, Innenstadt/Jungbusch, Neckarstadt-West

River history
The primal Neckar started off as an escarpment riverlet due to the slow rise of the Black Forest and the connected slow erosive retraction of the South German Scarplands. For a long time it flowed on the high plains of the different Gäu Plateaus created through the hard chalks of the Muschelkalk. At Horb the river was redirected to the northeast due to the rift structure of the so-called Swabian Lineament, which lies roughly parallel to the escarpment of the Swabian Jura. Following that the Neckar cut into the Muschelkalk plateau between Rottweil and Rottenburg as well as the younger Keuper and Jura layers in the northeast, and created narrow water gaps in the area of the morphologically hard chalks and sandstones. The river deepening was also caused by the further rise of the Black Forest as well as the retracting erosion of the attacking younger Neckar route. This younger Neckar route tapped the primal Neckar system at Plochingen (hence the Neckarknie), which flowed through the primal lone to the primal Danube. Another influence on this river area was the Schurwald, a dissected cuesta of the filder rift, working as a river guideline.

Today's lower reaches used to be those of the primal Enz. Until, through the erosive retraction of a tributary of the primal Enz near Besigheim, the Neckar river network was tapped. That is how the Enz became a tributary of the Neckar. Another trace of the former north western extent of the Danube river network is the Eschach running from north west to south east, hence towards the primal Danube. With the retraction of the escarpment, it was tapped by a Neckar tributary and redirected by about 90° to the east. Considering river history, it was never a headstream of the Neckar.

Until 2000 years ago the Neckar flowed through a pastureland in the Oberrheinische Tiefebene in a tangle of meanders, slings, old waters and cut of arms between the Rhine in the west and the foot of the Odenwald in the east until it finally entered the Rhine only north of Darmstadt at Trebur; roughly 50 km north of today's confluence in Mannheim. On large stretches you can still see it on aerial photos.

In the 13th century, the confluence was south of Mannheim. A great flood changed the course of the Neckar in around 1275. Since then it enters the Rhine north of the city. The last change here took place in connection with the straightening of the Rhine by the Friesenheimer breakthrough west of today's Friesenheimer Island. Previously the Neckar entered the Rhine in the area of today's industrial port of Mannheim. Its new riverbed was also the reason for the relocation of the Neckar. After the old Neckar was cut off in early 1869, it followed the path of the new Neckar breakthrough, which was finished by 1880.

Natural landscape
Narrow and widening valleys alternate along the Neckar's course. The narrows are mostly deepenings into the Muschelkalk plateau and the Buntsandstein below. Widenings developed in the area of morphologically soft clay and marl. Wide valley meadows also developed through the strong backfilling with Aue clay since the start of settlement in the Neolithic and the accompanying deforestation and soil erosion. In the area of the narrows the meander and cut-off meander spurs stand out. The meanders were formed through the primal Neckar, which sluggishly flowed through the almost even Muschelkalk plateau, forming the basic structures during the deepening phases and cutting into the hard Muschelkalk. The best known cut-off meander spur is the one at Lauffen; it cut through in historical times and created a waterfall (historic: Laufen). At the cutbanks one can find rocks, formed by the limestone of the upper Muschelkalk. For example, the rock gardens at Hessigheim. They lie on the marls and clays of the middle Muschelkalks and can sag in whole stone packages, so-called Schollen, down towards the Neckar. In the Odenwald narrow ravines and gorges lead into the Neckar from both sides, as for example, the Wolfschlucht and the Margarethenschlucht.

Cultural landscape
Due to the risk of flooding the valley plains remained unsettled for a long time, but the nutritious and, due to its good structure, very arable land was intensively used for agriculture, and to a large degree the valley plains are still used agriculturally today. The fertile soil allows the cultivation of lucrative specialty crops like vegetables or hops, for example, between Rottenburg and Tübingen.

Gravel pit quarrying in the valley plains takes away agricultural land, but created large lakes, nowadays used for recreational purposes. These borrow pits also became habitat for birds, amphibians and aquatic creatures. Such large borrow pits can be found for example near Kirchentellinsfurt and between Freiberg am Neckar and Pleidelsheim. The gravel bodies of the Neckar have an additional role as water reservoir and are in many places used for drinking water production. The paths usually went over the heights and only crossed the valleys where there were fords over the Neckar.

This changed with the onset of industrialisation in the 19th century. It brought fundamental conflicts regarding the land usage of the flat valley plain. Large even spaces became sought after for industrial sites. The Neckar was mostly straightened in order to prevent flooding and to gain areas for industrial buildings. The river itself was expanded over the course of centuries. With the development into a heavy shipping lane in the early 20th century, the last freely flowing parts between Plochingen and the mouth disappeared and the whole river in this part nowadays is characterized by dam areas. In the strongly textured Neckar area the valley became the only possibility for modern transportation infrastructure. Construction of railway lines and avenues in the valley plains changed the Neckar valley from a cultural to an industrial landscape.

One example is the densely populated and industrialised Neckar valley between Plochingen and Bad Cannstatt, which harbors large companies such as Daimler AG (the maker of Mercedes Benz cars) and Mahle GmbH and recreational facilities with large area consumption like the MHPArena, the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle or the Cannstatter Wasen, the second-largest fair of Germany. The term Wasen gives a clue, that there used to be a floodplain on which the fair was held. Distinctive points in the industrial landscape of the Neckar valley are the high chimneys of the coal-fired power station Altbach/Deizisau and Heilbronn as well as the assembly halls of the Daimler-engine plant in Untertürkheim and the Audi plant in Neckarsulm.

Along the Neckar's valley in the Odenwald hills many castles can be found, including Hornberg Castle and Guttenberg Castle in Haßmersheim; the now-mothballed Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant and the active Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Plant are also located there.

In contrast to the plains, the mostly steep slopes are often forested and in forestry use. The sun-exposed south-facing sites are frequently used for vineyards and are terraced with dry walls. There the local red wine grapes Trollinger, Schwarzriesling and Lemberger are cultivated, which are also traditionally mostly drunk in Württemberg. Especially the middle Neckar around Besigheim and Lauffen is characterized by in parts extremely steep vineyards, which can be cultivated only by hand.

The vine terrasses at the Neckar together with the drainage area of the tributaries deliver the largest part of the cultivation area of the Württemberg wine region. The vineyards at the lower reaches from Heinsheim to Heidelberg are part of the Baden wine region. Until the end of the 19th century, vineyard cultivation was more extensive in the Neckar valley including unfavorable sites. Today these have been abandoned and gone fallow, reclaimed by wildlife. One example is the southern slopes of the Spitzberg above the Neckar near Tübingen.

The river's course provides a popular route for cyclists, especially during the summer months. The slopes of the Neckar are preferred areas for high-level residential areas because they allow wide, unobstructed views.

Renaturation

The diverse usage of raw water and waterway, as well for the production of hydropower brought with it substantial interventions into the ecological structure of the river. Multiple initiatives are advocated for the land restoration the Neckar, the ecological enhancement of the river network, the improvement of the water quality, improved flood control and the creation of attractive local recreational areas alongside the river. Only recently within the frame of the nationwide campaign lively rivers and the initiative Lebendiger Neckar (German: lively Neckar), it was begun to free it from its partly-existing concrete corset. The river has in parts been redeveloped as a local recreational area and habitat for animals and plants. It still remains a symbol of endangered nature with the highest power plant density in Germany. At an oxygen content of below 4 mg/L power plant owners have to run specially designed turbines to inject air into the water. As of 2003, no mass die-off of fish due to lack of oxygen had occurred for 20 years.

Climate
The Neckar valley functions as a cold air basin, which means that under cloudless skies the heavier, cold, night air which develops on the sparsely vegetated plateaus and hills, flows into the basin and concentrates there. Especially during the cold season, such "cold lakes" can contribute to the creation of fog while all around on the plateaus the sun shines. The orography of the Neckar valley facilitates such inversive weather conditions.

The Neckar valley is known for its wine cultivation climate and the cultivation of Trollinger, Lemberger, Kerner, Müller-Thurgau amongst other locally grown grape varieties. Wine cultivation has receded over the 20th century and cultivation of the "Württemberger Wein" is mostly restricted to the south-facing slopes with high radiation gain in the Neckar valley and its side valleys, as wine cultivation is labor-intensive and in Württemberg competitive only in the best sites.

Navigation
Various excavations of harbor installations and findings lead to the conclusion that the Neckar navigation already existed during the Roman Age in the first century. Especially on the lower Neckar. Main purpose was probably the transportation of construction material for the Limes and provisions. Later the Neckar navigation was probably restarted by the Franks.

Timber floating from 1100
Starting from 1100 the usage of the Neckar as a waterway with line boats and rafts has been attested. The river was already blocked by weirs in the surroundings of several cities during the High Middle Ages. In Heilbronn a harbour was mentioned for the first time in 1146. The Neckar privilege granted by Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV in 1333 allowed the free imperial city the construction of a weir. After its construction, the continuous traffic on the river was for several centuries blocked. An annoyance for the neighbours. The permission of passage for raftsman therefore had to be determined contractually. In 1342 Württemberg, the Markgrafschaft Baden and the free imperial city signed an agreement for the opening of the Neckar for rafts between Besigheim and Heilbronn. A treaty from 1476 between the free imperial city Esslingen, Württemberg and Austria fixed free rafting trade as well. The last raft went through Tübingen down the Neckar river on October 26, 1899.

The wood from the eastern Northern Black Forest was shipped through the Neckar and then Rhine up to Holland. Because of the developing seafaring the shipbuilding had a large demand for wood. The firewood from the Schurwald was combined to up to 260 Meter long rafts in Plochingen.

Navigation from the 16th century onward
The Neckar gained importance as a waterway in the middle of the 16th century due to the beginning upper German trade. Despite many interventions in the river course in order to improve navigation, the river which had a towpath, was because of dangerous rapids and shallows only navigable for smaller barges and this mostly only up to Heilbronn.

Making the upper Neckar navigable was then pushed ahead by Christoph, Duke of Württemberg who got the necessary permission from Emperor Karl V. in 1553. The city of Heilbronn still insisted on its rights so that the river was blocked at Heilbronn which meant that the upper Neckar and therefore Württemberg remained cut off from the navigation coming from the Rhine. All shipped goods were subject to Heilbronner staple right. In the late 16th century, Duke of Württemberg, Frederick I had plans for the navigation passage but discarded those in 1598 and instead planned to construct a württembergian trade port in Kochendorf. – which was as unsuccessful as his successors plans to build one in Untereisesheim. During the times of need in the 17th century, the navigation was insignificant.

Immediately above Mannheim interventions were necessary due to regular floods. After 1622, smaller corrections were made at the back then-existing Neckar loops between Mannheims Feudenheim and today's Friedrich-Ebert-Bridge. Floods still occurred and threatened the city, lastly in 1784 and 1789. The situation was then relaxed through the straightening of the river bed by means of for breakthroughs in combination with the lowering of the river bed as well as fortifications and dams.

After consolidation of the situation in the 18th century, electoral palatinate market ships regularly travelled on the lower Neckar river. On the upper Neckar boats regularly travelled between Heilbronn and Cannstatt for several years around 1720; the expansion of the navigation to the Württembergian Plochingen further up the river failed due to the free imperial city of Esslingen. While the electoral palatinate shipping on the lower Neckar was quite successful, the shipping on the upper Neckar was soon stopped again as the river was not suitably enough expanded for a navigation and moreover no funding was available for the further upgrading. Württemberg and the Electoral Palatinate signed a trade agreement in order to start up the Neckar navigation between Mannheim and Cannstatt during a time of economical rise in the late 18th century. In 1782 the previous two and the free imperial city of Heilbronn agreed upon facilitations in the Neckar trade but which were only of administrative nature. The Neckar still remained blocked at the weir in Heilbronn.

The Napoleonic times around 1800 brought a downfall to the Neckar navigation. On the one hand – because most parts of the lower Neckar area had fallen to Baden and the free imperial cities of Heilbronn and Esslingen to Württemberg – the many disputes and obstructions of the former small states did not hamper the trade anymore. But during the Continental System the navigation was restricted and ships and material were confiscated. The introduction of the Mannheimer Stapels ("Mannheim stable") in 1808 meant that the merchants of Mannheim gained control over almost all Neckar trade. During the German Campaign of 1813 only small ships travelled on the Neckar, mainly military transports. The Congress of Vienna demanded the freedom of traffic on the Neckar and Rhine rivers in 1814/1815.

Continuous navigability with the Wilhelmskanal in 1821

The 550-meter-long Wilhelmskanal ("Wilhelms canal") was constructed in Heilbronn from 1819 to 1821. The reason was the bypassing of the entire weir area and many mills. After further river construction measures, the Neckar became navigable all the way between the Rhine and Cannstatt. A lock gate at the upper end of the canal could turn it during floods into a port of refuge which was, already in 1829, expanded into a port of transshipment. In 1827 the Mannheimer Stapel was lifted through which the Neckar navigators gained back free access to the Rhine river. The Rheinschiffahrtsakte ("Mannheim Act") from 1831 and in consequence of it the Neckarschiffahrtsordnung ("Neckar navigation regulations") from 1832 brought, through simplified regulations and tariffs a significant rise for the navigation. But because of its shallows and rapids the river was considered one of the most dangerous in Germany. In 1836 the Neckarschiffergilde ("Neckar shipping guild") was dissolved, which had since 1810 tried to gain a monopoly on the Neckar trade. With the ratification of the Neckarschiffahrtsordnung in 1842 all Guilds were dissolved and thereby economic freedom created.

From 1841/42 onwards the Heilbronn-based Neckar-Dampfschifffahrt introduced a regular passenger and general cargo transport from Heilbronn to Mannheim. Despite the usage of modern steam ships, horses still pulled the heavy barges on the towpath upriver. The reason was that the steam ships were not yet strong enough herefore.

The competition of rail transport made steam ships as well as towing barges gradually uneconomic in the second half of the 19th century. Rafting on the other hand kept its importance, but adapted to the age of the railroad. Because trunks from the Black forest did more and more go by train to Heilbronn and only from there continued their trip on the water, a new rafting harbour was constructed in Heilbronn in 1875. Above Esslingen the rafting was only of little importance. The last raft passed the city on 28. Oktober 1899.

A new recovery for the Neckar navigation came with the chain boat navigation begun in 1878. Despite the construction of a railroad line along the Neckar. Between Mannheim and Heilbronn steam towboats with attached barges were now able to pull themselves upriver on a 115 km long chain which had been put into the river. Through that, the trip between Mannheim and Heilbronn was shortened to two to three days. On the horse drawn ships it had previously taken five to eight days. But often the water depth was not deep enough. The vernacular name for the chain boats was Neckaresel ("Neckar donkey"). The last chain boat navigation was still done 1933 – 1935 between Neckargerach and the barrage Kochendorf.

The world's first motorboat made during the summer of 1886 by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach was named "Neckar" when their Standuhr (grandfather clock) petrol engine was tested on the river near Bad Cannstatt.

The motorized cargo navigation began on the Neckar in 1925. The first motor cargo ship on the river was ordered by the brothers Ludwig (1887–1955) and Jakob Götz (1890–1977) already in 1924 at the Anderssen Werft ("Anderssen shipyard"). It was put into service in 1925 and christened "Gebrüder Götz". The motor cargo ship was operated by the shipping company drove for the shipping company Ludwig und Jakob Götz, founded in 1920. One of the best known        shipping companies on the Neckar, which was also involved in the upgrading of the river to a heavy shipping waterway.

In 1946 the first transportation order for coal after the Second World War on the Neckar was awarded and shipped by Johann Friedrich Boßler with his motor cargo ship Elisabeth.

Upgrading to a heavy shipping waterway between 1921 and 1968
In order to provide the rising industrial area around Stuttgart a waterway connection for fully rigged ships, first plannings for channelling of the Neckar between Mannheim and Plochingen began already in 1904. The goal was to be mostly independent from natural impacts as for example low waters or floating ice. With the Württembergian side Otto Konz (1875–1965) was assigned who remained connected to the Neckar upgrading the rest of his life. A memorandum from 1910 allowed for ships up to 1000 tons, according to plans from 1919 the transportation was planned for the 1200-t-ship.

Because the Neckar was earmarked as a Reichswasserstraße (literally:"realm waterway") in the Weimar Constitution in 1919 (officially from 1. April 1921), Neckarbaudirektion (literally: "Neckar construction department") was introduced in 1920 whose head Otto Konz became. The department was directly subordinated to the German Reich (often called "Weimar Republic"). In 1921 the German Reich, the Neckar adjoining states Württemberg, Baden and Hessen agreed in a state treaty the upgrading of the Neckar to a heavy shipping waterway. In order to finance the construction project they founded the Neckar AG with a construction loan from the German Reich, the three States and several municipalities in the same year. As compensation the AG received the right to use the simultaneously expanded hydropower until 2034 and to redeem the construction loan with the profits; this right transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany. As chairman of the Neckar AG were elected Otto Hirsch from the Württembergian ministry of internal affairs and Otto Konz. In consideration of the world famous cityscape of Heidelberg and in order to bring the further barrages in unison with nature and landscape, the architect Paul Bonatz worked for the project (1877–1956).

Construction began immediately along the entire distance in 1921. Along a stretch of 113 km length the first eleven barrages between Mannheim and the new canal harbour in Heilbronn were finished in 1935. This canal harbour became later through the further expansion the barrage channel Heilbronn.

The expansion of the Neckar to a heavy shipping waterway lead to a shipbuilding industry exclusively for the passenger traffic on the river. Already in 1926 the brothers Georg (1881–1946) and Andreas Boßler (1884–1961) founded the Personenschiffahrt Gebr. Bossler, which makes the Gebrüder Bossler pioneers for passenger navigation on the Neckar.

While the river was upgraded and the barrages constructed, the Neckar-Enz-Stellung, a defensive fortification against enemies approaching from the West was constructed between 1935 and 1938. It was based between Eberbach and Besigheim on the natural obstacle of the Neckar river and from thereon followed the Enz upriver up to Enzweihingen.

Upgrading works were begun near Plochingen at the upper end of the intended waterway and plans existed to make the Fils between Plochingen and Göppingen navigable. The area for a harbour in Göppingen remained reserved in spatial planning until 1978. The construction chairman Konz also ordered the planning of a tunnel through the Swabian Jura for a waterway Ulm at the Danube in order to create a waterway between upper Rhine and upper Danube, as the State treaty from 1921 had planned. But those plans were dropped from 1968 onwards.

After 1935 the upgrading slowed down. Until 1943 only six barrages above Heilbronn were constructed, but without locks. Hirsch was forced out of office and murdered in the KZ Mauthausen in 1941. Konz went into provisional retirement because of national socialist repressions. The constructions were mostly stopped during the second world war. Only in 1948 the barrage construction above Heilbronn was continued, until 1952 again led by Otto Konz. The section up to Stuttgart was finished in 1958 and Stuttgart harbour was opened by the president Theodor Heuß together with Otto Konz. With the opening of the Plochingen harbour in 1968 the expansion goal for the Neckar was reached after 47 years of construction. The river was dammed up at 27 locks and thereby had become a heavy shipping waterway from Mannheim to Plochingen.

Every barrage consists of a weir with two to six openings and different gates, a double lock and a remote-controlled hydropower plant next to each other. At seven barrages, where a larger damming up was not possible due to the landscape, a parallel barrage and hydropower canal varying in length from 1.5 to 7.5 km has been constructed. At two further barrages a breakthrough exists which cuts of a river bend. In total only 17% of the entire distance from the Rhine up to the mouth of the Rems lie in an artificial waterbed, which means the river character dominates. On the last 32 km of the waterway in the area of the less water carrying upper river which is at the same time heavily used economically, almost the entire river bed had to be constructed artificially.

Today
Neckar at Stuttgart-Untertürkheim through heavily industrialized area The Neckar (Ne) is being administered after taking over step-by-step from the Neckar AG since 1970 from Mannheim to Plochingen as a Bundeswasserstraße (literally "federal waterway") by the water- and navigation offices Stuttgart and Heidelberg. The Federal Republic is owner of the waterway. Sport boats including paddle and rowing boats are subject to the Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen-Ordnung, valid on the Neckar which for example defines the need of identification and the rules for the right of way. 159 water abstraction points and 628 water intakes show the heavy water economical usage.

On the Neckar, which is nowadays classified as a "Wasserstraße des Typs Va" (waterway Type Va) from km 201.5 at Plochingen to its mouth (km 0), 7332 river boats transported in 2012 7.5 million tons. The largest parts of these tons were made up of construction material (1,9 Millionen t) and coal (1,6 Millionen t) as well as salt (1,3 Millionen t). 21.000 TEU Containers were transported. Leisure ships run by various companies travel on the river for tourists. On the upper Neckar the passenger navigation is handled by the company Neckar-Käpt'n.

Plochingen harbour
On December 8, 1954, the Neckarhafen Plochingen GmbH was founded. From 1960 until 1963 the last barrage was constructed near Deizisau. The construction of the Neckarhafen Plochingen started on April 29, 1964. The first ship landed in Plochingen on July 12, 1968, after it had been blessed with the name "Plochingen" by Gertrud Hartung, the mayor's wife. In the harbour 15 companies generated an annual revenue of about 500 to 600 Million Euro in 2004.

Stuttgart harbour
The Neckarhafen Stuttgart was constructed in two steps, from 1954 until 1958 and from 1966 until 1968. The harbour area covers a total area of 100 ha. The three basins including the federal waterway have a water surface of 30,7 ha.

Cannstatt harbour
The first Cannstatter "Hafen am Mühlgrün" was inaugurated by duke Eberhard Louis in 1713. It remained insignificant.

Heilbronn harbour
The Heilbronn harbour with a total factory area of 78 ha and a quay length of 7,2 km based on the turnover the 7th largest inland harbour in Germany (2010) and the largest of the Neckar. Over 50% of the Neckar turnover is done here. In total about 4 million tons per year. About 60% of the turnover are domestic trade, the rest are international goods and commodities. Additionally to commodities and construction material (coal, Salt) grain, iron, steel and timber are loaded.

Mannheim harbour
The Mannheim harbour is one of the most important inland harbours in Europe and the second-largest in Germany. The harbour has a total water surface of 267,9 ha, additionally there is 863,5 ha land area. About 500 companies with 20.000 employees have settled in the harbour area. In 1968 the first Container-Terminal in an inland harbour was opened here. Furthermore, a RoRo-facility and since 1991 a combined transport terminal. On the water side 7.64 million tons of goods were turned over in 2010. The largest stakes have bituminous coal 2.2 million t, food- and fodder with 0.92 million t and chemical goods with 1.59 million t. At the container terminal on the water side 120.568 units were turned over.

The harbour basin spreads out around the mouth of the Neckar along the Rhine and Neckar. The overall complex includes the Ludwigshafener Rheinhafen, which is situated directly on the opposite side of the Rhine river.

Barrages
The maximum size of the river boats driving on the Neckar is limited by the locks of the 27 barrages. Those are in general 110 m long and 12 m wide; the allowed dimensions are therefore 105 m x 11.45 m. Since 1952 almost every Barrage got a second lock. 23 of those locks use almost 50% of the water of one chamber to fill the other empty chamber in order to save water (so-called twin locks). In order to prevent jams at the mouth of the Neckar, the first barrage Feudenheim received a further lock in 1973 (190 m × 12 m). The barrages have an average distance of 7 km between each other (between 0.9 and 13.7 km, see table) and are used to cover the difference in altitude of 160.70 m to the Rhine at low water. The waterway depth is since 2000 continuously 3.80 m. This means that the Stuttgart harbour can be reached by the large motor ships of the Rhine, which have a draft of 2.6 m and a loading capacity of 2200 t. In the coming years it is planned to refurbish the locks and partly extend them. In total the federal government invests 575 Million Euro for this project. For its execution, the Amt für Neckarausbau Heidelberg was founded in 2007. In order to make the Neckar navigable for 135 m long ships, one of each dual lock chamber is going to be lengthened. Furthermore, the old chambers are going to be refurbished and certain sections and turn around spots expanded. The barrages between Mannheim and Heilbronn are supposed to be lengthened until 2026. The Gundelsheim lock received the title "most water sport friendly lock" in 2012.

Table of the locks at the Neckar with river kilometers and aimed stowage height in meters above Normalnull (NN) and difference in level (de) in meters.

In contrast to other waterways as for example the Mosel or Main there are no boat locks except for Bad Cannstatt. Therefore, yachts and sailing boats are normally locked in the river boat locks. The rails installed at the other 26 barrages to pull boats from one side to the other are often in a bad condition or even unusable. In some places canoes can, if allowed by the locks staff, use the lock as well. This is especially used on group trips.

Since 2004 the remote control center in Stuttgart-Obertürkheim (Fernbedienzentrale, FBZ) controls all locks from Deizisau to Stuttgart-Hofen on the upper Neckar.

Stream gauge and flood
Crucial for the professional and recreational navigation on the Neckar are its stream gauges. According to the Hochwassermeldeordnung (HMO, flood report regulation) of the State Baden-Württemberg the following Hochwassermeldehöhen are valid at the stream gauge:

Gauge Plochingen

The gauge in Plochingen (since 1905) was the only gauge at the waterway that lay in free descent. In 1962 the moveable barrage in Deizisau was constructed. In order to keep water level differences caused by the barrage, a ridge was constructed about 100 m below the Plochingen street bridge and moved the gauge there. The large flood in February 1970 destroyed the ridge made of stones. Because the costs for a new ridge made out of concrete seemed to be too high, a more economic solution was found. Out of the stream gauges and discharge of the gauges in Wendlingen (Neckar-km 206,5 – for the upper Neckar) and Reichenbach (Fils-km 2,5 – for the Fils) water gauges and discharges are algorithmically calculated and published.

Flood

A study has been done to clustering simultaneous occurrences of the Extreme Floods in the Neckar Catchment and the results shows the Neckar catchment has been divided into three major clusters. The first cluster mainly covers the western part and is bounded by the Black Forest and Swabian Alps. The second cluster is mostly located in the eastern part of the upper Neckar. The third cluster contains the remaining lowland areas of the Neckar basin
 * 1824: The most serious flood in the Neckar area happened in October 1824. Estimates conclude for a HQ4000, that means a return period of 4000 years.

Freeze up

 * 1709: From January 18 until January 28 and from January 31 until February 13 as well as shortly after February 13 until March 23 the Neckar was frozen up.

Mills
The hydropower of the Neckar drove numerous mills, of which some are surviving to today:

 * In Rottweil a powder mill existed since the 15th century which merged to the Powder factory Rottweil in 1863.
 * In Gundelsheim the building of the Alten Neckarmühle (old Neckar mill) dates back to 1604. The milling was stopped following the Neckar regulation. The last miller was Meister Batz around 1935/36. There is no equipment in place anymore, for a time it was used gastronomically. Worth seeing are a large stone with a coat of arms and old inscriptions.

Power stations
At least since the early 20th century, power stations replaced the historical mills. Since then the Neckar has been used for commercial electricity production through hydroelectric power. Several transregionally known hydro plants can be found at the Neckar:

 * In Horb the construction of a hydroelectric plant was begun at the island front at the level of the Schillerstraße in February 2010. It started producing electricity on April 13, 2011. The hydroelectric plant is expected to produce 2.3 kWh yearly in the future – enough in order to supply about 600 four-person households with electricity. Together with the already existing, refurbished facilities it has an average total power of 437 kW. The total investments were about 5.5 million Euro.
 * In Rottenburgs district Bad Niedernau the Wasserkraftwerk Bad Niedernau can be found.
 * In Rottenburg am Neckar the two power plants Beim Preußischen and Tübinger Straße.

 * In Kiebingen the Rottenburger clock factory Junghans did run since 1903 their own power plant, which still produces electricity today. For the clock factory the plant run by water and steam was over-dimensioned, therefore the overproduction was sold. Today the historic powerhouse is under monumental protection. Despite its age, the power plant is a very modern plant with three characteristics: The turbines have an innovative scoop shape which has been developed with computer simulations, special Thordon-Turbine bearings and inflatable rubber dam. A fish pass recreates since the modernization the pervasiveness for the fish migration at the weir.
 * The hydroelectric plant Tübingen-Hirschau is located between Hirschau and Tübingen as well as the Wasserkraftwerk Rappenberghalde which was constructed in 1930. It was refurbished in 1999 and today the two Kaplan turbines produce together with the residual water turbine at the weir upstream in Hirschau 7 million kWh electricity per year. Per second more than 22 cubic metres of water flow through a 1.7 km long supply canal to the plant. The plant uses the incline of the Neckar of 7.5 meters.

 * The Wasserkraftwerk Neckarwerk in Tübingen was constructed together with the weir within the frame of the Neckar regulation as one of the first roller dams in Germany in 1910/1911. It is used for electricity generation as well as control of the river. Through the weir the water level of the Neckar in Tübingen center is managed. Before the construction of the weir the Neckar was full of gravel banks and hat a very flat waterfront. This can be seen on many photographs and drawings prior to the construction. Moreover, floods, which now and then flooded the back then only few buildings in Wöhrd and sometimes threatened the Neckar bridge have been eliminated with this weir and the other weirs (e.g. in Rottenburg). For fish a fish ladder has been constructed later on. The pedestrian bridge over the weir is an important connection of the two waterfronts between Lustnau and the central Eberhards or Neckar bridge. It also provides a nice view of Neckar, historic city center, abbey church and castle.

 * The Kraftwerk Oberesslingen is a run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plant between two Neckar islands at river kilometer 195.6 in Oberesslingen. The plant was constructed in 1929 in the frame of the upgrading to a heavy waterway according to a design made by the architect Paul Bonatz. It has a capacity of 2.1 MW and delivers per year about 12.3 GWh energy. The average flow ist 45 cubic meter per second.
 * In Esslingen a new run-of-the-river hydroelectricity plant has been constructed on the Hechtkopf. With a power of 1.25 MW and a yearly electricity production of 7.1 GWh 4000 people can be supplied with electricity. With the construction of this new power plant the last of the barrages on the Neckar has been equipped with turbines. It is framed by a weir in the Neckar on one side and the historical bridge house over the Hammerkanal (hammer canal) on the other side.

 * The Drehstromübertragung Lauffen–Frankfurt was on August 25, 1891, the worldwide first transmission of electric energy with high voltage alternating three-phase current. On the occasion of the International Electrotechnical Exhibition 1891 the electricity generated by the hydropower plant at the Mühlgraben in Lauffen am Neckar was upvolted to 15 kV and transported over 175 km to Frankfurt am Main where it did run an artificial waterfall. The power plant was moved up river during the upgrading of the Neckar. The original generator is now located in the Deutschen Museum (German Museum) in Munich.
 * The hydropower plant Heilbronn lies on the old Neckar in the city center and not on the canal. Therefore, no lock exists here.

 * At the Heidelberger Karlstor is another barrage with lock; the corresponding power plant is the only underwater hydropower plant at the Neckar. The construction permission the Neckar AG 1994 received for it in 1994 had a number of requirements. Neither were visible changes at the weir which is under monumental protection, nor should the new power plant change the historic cityscape of Heidelberg. The technical solution was a power plant embbeded invisibly under the riverbed.
 * At the weir in Heidelberg the weir bridge connects the city districts Wieblingen and Neuenheim.

Additionally, the Neckar is and has been a cooling water supply for coal and nuclear power plants. Near Esslingen-Zell the Neckar cools the Altbach Power Station, one of the most modern bituminous coal power plants in Europe. It consists of two blocks and is located on the area of the two municipalities Altbach and Deizisau. It can including its gas turbines and the combination block 4 produce a maximum of about 1270 MW of electrical power.

The Heizkraftwerk Stuttgart-Gaisburg, the incineration facility of the Kraftwerks Stuttgart-Münster, the Kraftwerk Marbach, the Kraftwerk Walheim, the Neckarwestheim Nuclear Power Station, the Kraftwerk Heilbronn and the mothballed Obrigheim Nuclear Power Plant source their cooling or evaporation water from the Neckar as well.

Bridges
Famous bridges include the Neckar Valley Bridge Weitingen, near the town Horb am Neckar and the Old Bridge, in Heidelberg.

The ladder is amongst the best known historic bridges. It already existed in the High Middle Ages and was erected in today's form in 1788. Further historic Neckar bridges are the Neckarbrücke in Lauffen am Neckar, in the core dating back to 1532, the Neckar bridge in Sulz constructed in 1742, the Pliensaubrücke, the Alte Agnesbrücke (old Agnes bridge) and the Ulrichsbrücke in Köngen. The oldest still remaining Neckar bridge is the Innere Brücke in Esslingen. The 230 meter long construction was built in the 13th century and consists of eleven stone arches.

The Neckartalbrücke Heilbronn is with 1348 meter the longest Neckarbridge. The prestressed concrete construction built in 1967 is ailing and since early 2018 being replaced by a new bridge.

In Neckargröningen the 85-meter longest free spanning wooden pedestrian bridge was created in 1990. The unusual structure has a triangle profile. Die älteste Spannbeton-Eisenbahnbrücke Deutschlands – erbaut 1957 – steht in Heilbronn.

In the year 1905, there were already 119 bridges over the Neckar, of which, with a total length of 230 meters, the longest was the Neckargartacher Neckarbrücke built between 1903 and 1905. In 1985 the heavy waterway was crossed by 159 railroad-, street- and pedestrian-bridges and also by 126 overhead power lines and 67 Düker. In total there are today about 400 Neckar bridges of various sizes, half of it on the upper and half of it on the middle and lower reaches. <!—counted on the OpenStreetMap-Map -->

Castles and palaces
From Mannheim over Heidelberg, Eberbach, Mosbach up to Heilbronn the Castle Road runs almost parallel to the Neckar and passes on this about 100 km long section of the lower Neckar numerous castles and palaces. Most notably the Heidelberg Castle zu nennen. Unter den Neckarburgen sind aber auch die vier Burgen in Neckarsteinach, Dilsberg Castle, Burg Eberbach, Burg Hirschhorn, Zwingenberg Castle, Burg Stolzeneck, die Minneburg, Burg Dauchstein, Schloss Neuburg (Baden), die Hornberg Castle (the castle of Götz von Berlichingen) and the Guttenberg Castle (Deutsche Greifenwarte), Horneck Castle, and Burg Ehrenberg.

In the further course upriver to Stuttgart and continuing on, on the upper Neckar stand the Burg Horkheim and the Neippergsche Schloss Klingenberg, Schloss Lichtenegg, the Esslinger Burg, Burg Remseck, Schloss Liebenstein, the Weiler Burg, the Ruine Herrenzimmern, the Schloss Hohentübingen, the Schloss Weitenburg, the Ruine Albeck near Sulz am Neckar as well as the ruins Wehrstein and Neckarburg.

Towers

 * Rottweil Test Tower
 * Fernmeldeturm Mannheim

The Neckar in literature
"Germany, in the summer, is the perfection of the beautiful, but nobody has understood, and realized, and enjoyed the utmost possibilities of this soft and peaceful beauty unless he has voyaged down the Neckar on a raft."

 * Der Neckar poem by Friedrich Hölderlin
 * Friedrich Hölderlin wrote a poem entitled "Der Neckar".
 * The Neckar is mentioned prominently in Gustav Mahler's 1893 "Rheinlegendchen" ('Little Rhine Legend'), first published in 1899 in a cycle of 12 songs under the title Humoresken ('Humoresques'), today known as one of Mahler's Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Songs from The Youth's Magic Horn).

Literature

 * Hanns Heiman: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Neckarschiffergewerbes und der Neckarschiffahrt. Die Neckarschiffer Band 1, C. Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, Heidelberg 1907, (Digitalisat)
 * Hanns Heiman: Die Lage der Neckarschiffer seit Einführung der Schleppschiffahrt. Die Neckarschiffer Band 2, C. Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, Heidelberg 1907, (Digitalisat)
 * Jan Bürger: Der Neckar. Eine literarische Reise. C. H. Beck, München 2013, ISBN 978-3-406-64692-8.
 * Der Neckar. Das Land und sein Fluss, hrsg. von der Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg. Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2007, ISBN 978-3-89735-286-5.
 * Franz X. Bogner: Das Land des Neckars. Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-7995-0152-5.
 * Walter Hailer (Hrsg.): Der Neckar – unser Lebensraum. Ministerium für Umwelt und Verkehr, Stuttgart; Geschäftsstelle IKoNE, Besigheim 2003.
 * Jörg Bischoff, Norbert Kustos: Der Neckar von der Quelle bis zur Mündung. Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-89234-989-4 (Bildband).
 * Hartmut Müller: Der Neckar. (= Literaturreisen). Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-12-895250-7.
 * Helmut Betz: Historisches vom Strom Band. V – Die Neckarschiffahrt vom Treidelkahn zum Groß-Motorschiff, Krüpfganz, Duisburg 1989, ISBN 3-924999-04-X
 * Andrea Wehr (Hrsg.): Neckar-Lesebuch. Geschichten und Gedichte dem Neckar entlang. Silberburg, Tübingen und Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-87407-198-7.
 * Willi Zimmermann: Der Neckar. Schicksalsfluss der Stadt [Heilbronn]. Heilbronner Stimme, Heilbronn 1985, ISBN 3-921923-02-6.
 * Willi Zimmermann: Heilbronn und sein Neckar im Lauf der Geschichte. In: Historischer Verein Heilbronn. 21. Veröffentlichung, Heilbronn 1954.
 * Südwestdeutscher Kanalverein für Rhein, Donau und Neckar: Neckarkanal 1935, Verlag Julius Hoffmann ca. 1935, Broschur ca. 21 cm × 21 cm, 109 Seiten.
 * Martin Eckoldt: Zur Gewässerkunde des kanalisierten Neckars, Mitteilung Nr. 62, Koblenz, 1955, Hrsg. Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde, Koblenz.
 * Behrendt: Hydrologie am Neckar, aus Zeitschrift für Binnenschifffahrt und Wasserstrassen Nr. 9, 1973.
 * M. Eckoldt (Hrsg.): Flüsse und Kanäle. Die Geschichte der deutschen Wasserstraßen. DSV-Verlag 1998
 * Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest: Kompendium der Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest. Organisatorische und technische Daten, Binnenschifffahrt, Aufgaben, Wasserstraßen. Eigenverlag, Mainz Juni 2007
 * Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest: Kompendium der Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Südwest. Organisatorische und technische Daten, Binnenschifffahrt, Aufgaben, Wasserstraßen. Eigenverlag, Mainz Juni 2007

Maps

 * Landesvermessungsamt Baden-Württemberg: Freizeitkarte F513 Mannheim Heidelberg – Naturpark Neckartal-Odenwald (Westblatt). Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-89021-606-4.
 * Landesvermessungsamt Baden-Württemberg: Freizeitkarte F514 Mosbach – Naturpark Neckartal-Odenwald (Ostblatt). Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-89021-607-2.
 * Erhard Jübermann: Wassersport-Wanderkarten, Blatt 3, Deutschland-Südwest. Geocenter, 2004, ISBN 3-929540-13-4.
 * Gerhard Römer (Hrsg.), Irene-Annette Bergs (Bearb.): Der Neckar in alten Landkarten. Ausstellungskatalog. Baden State Library, Karlsruhe 1988, ISBN 3-88705-022-3.

title: Neckar


text:
Fairview Lawn Cemetery

Fairview Cemetery is a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is perhaps best known as the final resting place for over one hundred victims of the sinking of the Titanic. Officially known as Fairview Lawn Cemetery, the non-denominational cemetery is run by the Parks Department of the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Location
Fairview Lawn Cemetery is located in the North End of Halifax at the Northern End of Windsor Street. It is bordered by the Saint John Anglican cemetery on one side and the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery on another.

History
A blockhouse was built at the site in the 1750s to protect Halifax from attacks by the Mi'kmaq people. The land was subsequently developed as small farms. In 1893, the land was acquired by a private company, the Fairview Lawn Cemetery Limited, for a non-denominational cemetery because the Camp Hill Cemetery in the centre of the city was running out of room. The city of Halifax took over the cemetery in 1944. Fairview contains a cross section of Halifax's 20th century residents including a Greek section and a Chinese section as well as a mass grave of victims from the Halifax Explosion and many other graves.

Titanic victims
Fairview was selected by city coroner/registrar John Henry Barnstead as the site where the Titanic victims should be buried.

One hundred and twenty-one victims of the RMS Titanic sinking are interred at Fairview, more than any other cemetery in the world. Most of them are memorialized with small gray granite markers with the name and date of death. Some families paid for larger markers with more inscriptions. The occupants of a third of the graves, however, have never been identified and their markers contain just the date of death and marker number. Surveyor E. W. Christie laid out three long lines of graves in gentle curves following the contours of the sloping site. By co-incidence, the curved shape suggests the outline of the bow of a ship. A complete listing of those victims buried in Fairview can be found here.

One of the better-known Titanic markers is for an unidentified child victim, known for decades as The Unknown Child. No one claimed the body, so he was buried with funds provided by sailors of CS Mackay-Bennett, the cable ship that recovered his body. The marker bears the inscription 'Erected to the memory of an unknown child whose remains were recovered after the disaster of the "Titanic" April 15, 1912'. In November 2002, the child was initially identified as 13-month-old Eino Viljami Panula of Finland. Eino, his mother, and four brothers all died in the Titanic disaster. After additional forensic testing, the unknown child was re-identified as 19-month-old Sidney Leslie Goodwin, an English child who perished with his entire family.

A grave marked "J. Dawson" gained fame following the release of the 1997 film Titanic, since the name of Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the film is Jack Dawson. Many filmgoers, moved by the story, left flowers and ticket stubs at Dawson's grave when the film was first released, and flowers continue to be left today. Film director James Cameron has said the character's name was not in fact inspired by the grave. More recent research has revealed that the grave actually belongs to Joseph Dawson, an Irishman who worked in Titanic's boiler room as a coal trimmer.

The Fairview Titanic graves also include the burial place and marker of William Denton Cox, a heroic steward who died while escorting third class passengers to the lifeboats. Six of the previously unknown Titanic victims were identified in 1991 with the help of the Titanic International Society. Newly-inscribed headstones bearing their names were unveiled on September 23, 1991, at ceremonies attended by then-Halifax Mayor Ronald Wallace, Titanic survivor Louise Pope, and more than 50 members of the Society.

Twenty-nine other Titanic victims are buried elsewhere in Halifax; nineteen in the Roman Catholic Mount Olivet Cemetery and ten in the Jewish Baron de Hirsch Cemetery.

War Graves
The cemetery also contains 29 war graves of Commonwealth service personnel, 20 from World War I and 9 from World War II.

title: Fairview Lawn Cemetery