The Red Main ( or Rotmain) is a river in southern Germany. It is the southern, left headstream of the river Main. It rises in the hills of Franconian Switzerland, near Haag and flows generally northwest through the towns Creußen, Bayreuth, Heinersreuth and Neudrossenfeld. It merges with the White Main near Kulmbach to form the Main. The Red Main is long and descends a total of . The waters of the Red Main flow through a region of clayey soils, which is why the river carries a lot of suspended solids, especially after rainfall, and acquires a red-brown colour, hence the name Red Main. Sources The Red Main rises south of Bayreuth near Hörlasreuth (Creußen) in the Lindenhardt Forest at a height of . The source of the Red Main (Rotmainquelle) was impounded in stone in 1907, the water flows out of a small wooden pipe. Its source region lies in the Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park. Geologically it belongs to the Brown Jura. Course The Red Main flows initially in a southeasterly direction, before it swings northeast and passes through Creußen. From there it heads almost due north and then turns west beyond Eremitage. It passes through the town of Bayreuth from east to west. In the town centre it has been confined since the 1970s in a concrete channel and partially covered. In the vicinity of the Bayreuth folk festival square the river divides into two branches. The southern branch is called the Mühlkanal, because it used to feed several mills within the town. Its water flow is held roughly constant by a weir and it runs above ground as far as the Münzgasse. Behind the former state central bank it disappears into a tunnel and surfaces again opposite the Graser School just before reuniting with the northern branch. In the late 1990s a section of the channel in Opernstraße was exposed and swept up as part of the rebuilding at the southern end of Luitpoldplatz. The northern arm usually carries only a small amount of water, but acts as a flood channel at times of high water and has a very wide river bed. It is partly covered by two car parks. Beyond Bayreuth the Red Main flows northwest in wide meanders through a broad valley, past the villages of Heinersreuth and Neudrossenfeld. South of Kulmbach, near Steinenhausen Castle, it is united with the White Main, which