Mußbach

Mußbach
The Mußbach on the southeastern outskirts of Gimmeldingen; on the left the north wall of Wiedemann Mill
Country	Germany
States	Palatinate forest
Basin features
Main source	Hoher Stoppelkopf 460 m (1,510 ft) 49°22′49″N 8°7′26″E / 49.38028°N 8.12389°E / 49.38028; 8.12389
River mouth	Confluence with Rehbach in Neustadt an der Weinstraße 124 m (407 ft) 49°21′33″N 8°10′59″E / 49.35917°N 8.18306°E / 49.35917; 8.18306Coordinates: 49°21′33″N 8°10′59″E / 49.35917°N 8.18306°E / 49.35917; 8.18306
Progression	Rehbach → Rhine → North Sea
River system	Rhine
Basin size	15.238 km2 (5.883 sq mi)
Physical characteristics
Length	11.86 km (7.37 mi)
Cities	Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse, Deidesheim

The Mußbach is a stream, nearly 12 miles long, in the eastern Palatinate Forest and in the Anterior Palatinate region in the south of German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The former village of Mußbach (annexed by Neustadt an der Weinstrasse in 1969) was named after it.

The two springs of the Mußbach rise a few hundred metres apart on the northeastern slope of the Hoher Stoppelkopf (567 metres) in the forest district of Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse. They converge after about 2 km. The stream, which usually carries very little water, enters the Silbertal ("Silver Valley") in the forest district of Deidesheim. After 6 km it reaches the Neustadt suburb of Gimmeldingen in the Benjental valley. Here, it is joined by an unnamed right tributary. The tributary is only 2 km long, but carries much more water. Its origin is the Loosenbrunnen springs on the north flank of the 533-metre-high Weinbiet on the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest. Between 1952 and 1988, water from the spring was pumped up and used as drinking water in the local bar of Weinbiethaus.

The combined stream feeds a small reservoir serving tourism in the Gimmeldingen Valley and then reaches the vines landscape flanking the German Wine Route. Here, it flows through the Neustadt suburbs of Gimmeldigen en Mußbach. The confluence with the Rehbach, the northern tributary of the Speyerbach, is about 2 km southeast of this residential area.

In Middle High German, the stream, and the village named after it, were called Muosbach, meaning something like swampy brook, because natural streams meander and cause a high groundwater level.