Straightening
In 1685, Louis XIV started a program to move the Upper Rhine, change its course and drain the flood plain, in order to gain land. Until 1840, the river was moved up to 1.5 km to the East, taking territory away from Baden. Around 1790, large part of the Rhine Valley were deforested, creating arable land, fields and pasture to feed the population. The Upper Rhine was straightened between 1817 and 1876 by Johann Gottfried Tulla and changed from a relatively sluggish meandering river with major and many smaller branches into a fast flowing stream flanked with dams. The length of the Upper Rhine was reduced by 81 km. Some cut-off river arms remain; they are typically called "Old Rhine" (German: Altrhein) or Gießen.
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