Aar (Lahn)

The Aar (German pronunciation: [aːɐ] ) is a 50-kilometre-long (31 mi) river of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany, left tributary of the Lahn. It rises in the Taunus mountains, near Taunusstein. It flows generally north through the towns Taunusstein, Bad Schwalbach, Aarbergen and Hahnstätten. It flows into the Lahn in Diez. The name Aar is a common name of rivers and brooks in German-speaking Central Europe, as exemplified by the similarly named tributary to the same Lahn river Aar (Dill). The pre-German word Aar means "quick-flowing water", in a metaphorical sense "small river in a space between mountains." It is commonly conserved in southern German-speaking areas in settlement names ending with -ach. The Aar has its source in the Hessian Taunus south of limes, 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the ruins of Roman Castle Zugmantel and the Bundesstraße 417 in the Orlen part of Taunusstein. It flows first to the South, and then in a wide valley running in a southwesterly direction through Neuhof, Wehen, Hahn and Bleidenstadt (all in Taunusstein). After Bleidenstadt the valley narrows, and the Aar reaches its southernmost point and turns to the northwest.