Schutter (Kinzig)

Schutter
Source of the Schutter
Location	Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Reference no.	DE: 2348
Basin features
Main source	at Hünersedel in Schweighausen 680 m above sea level (NN) 48°12′41″N 8°00′03″E / 48.2114222°N 8.00082361°E / 48.2114222; 8.00082361Coordinates: 48°12′41″N 8°00′03″E / 48.2114222°N 8.00082361°E / 48.2114222; 8.00082361
River mouth	Bei Kehl 48°33′34″N 7°51′20″E / 48.5593417°N 7.8555250°E / 48.5593417; 7.8555250
Progression	Kinzig → Rhine → North Sea
River system	Rhine
Landmarks	Large towns: Lahr Small towns: Seelbach
Tributaries	Left: Runzenbach, Regelsbach, Wolfersbach, Litschentalbach, Sulzbach, Unditz Right: Prinschbach, Durenbach, Laulisgraben, Kambach, Michelbronnbach, Tretenbach, Selmenbächle, Steinbächle, Talbach, Giesen, Brudertalbach
Physical characteristics
Length	55.6 km

The Schutter is a 55-kilometre-long river in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and a left tributary of the Kinzig.

Linguistic experts disagree about the etymological meaning of the name "Schutter". The word "Schutter" is probably derived from the early Germanic form scutro, which means "fast flowing water". Scutro, which includes the Indo-Germanic root sceud, also allows interpretation in the sense of "enclosing" or "impoundment of water" and may refer to the plethora of embankments, dams and mills on the Schutter.

In addition to the municipalities of Schuttertal and Schutterwald, Schutenzell and Schutterzell, a district of Neuried also bear the name of the river in their place names. The name of the Schutterlindenberg hill in Lahr also comes from the name of the river.

The Schutter rises at Hünersedel in the Black Forest above Schweighausen at a height of 680 metres, but really begins in the village of Schweighausen at the confluence of two little brooks, the Geisbergbach and the Lohbach. Their source was enclosed in 1904 by the Lahr Branch of the Black Forest Club as called the Schutterquelle. The Schutter initially flows westwards, then, after an almost right-angled bend, northwards through the municipalities of Schuttertal and Seelbach. It then flows increasingly in an arc towards the west again and passes through the borough of Lahr. The Schutter then leaves the Black Forest and flows in a northerly direction parallel to the River Rhine through the Upper Rhine Plain. It crosses the parishes of Friesenheim, Neuried, Schutterwald, Kehl and Willstätt and empties into the Kinzig near Kehl, a few kilometres before the Kinzig joines the Rhine.