Rheinau (Germany Baden-Wurttemberg)

Rheinau (Ortenaukreis) is a Rhine River cruise port and town in Germany's Baden-Wurttemberg state (Ortenau district) with population around 12,000. Downtown is located immediately on the river (crossing to France) - not far from Kehl-Strasbourg.

The town was established in 1975 by merging the former communities (now boroughs) Diersheim, Freistett, Hausgereut, Honau, Helmlingen, Hohbuhn, Holzhausen, Linx, Memprechtshofen, Rheinbischofsheim. Among the best-known tourist attractions are Rheinbischhofsheim (lathe-19th-century Lutheran Church, the largest in the area / 56 m high), Bergkirche St Nikolaus (13th-century church), Heidenkirchl (Freistett), Heimatmuseum. Every Friday morning, in Freistett opens an outdoor farmers market.

The 1974-completed Gambsheim barrage has France's largest locks and is used for electricity generation and for reducing Upper Rhine's flow rate. The barrage consists of two locks, a hydroelectric power plant (in Gambsheim) and a Germany-France road connection (to Gambsheim). Approx 25 km (16 mi) downstream (on the German side) is the mirror-inverted Iffezheim barrage (same arrangement of locks-powerplant, road crossing, cyclist bridge/Europe's longest aluminum bridge, 2019-opened).