Gauge Hofkirchen: current water level and draft

Danube · km 2257

Measurement166cm05:15 · −6 cm/24hRule of thumb—cmDraft—cm

Water level at the Hofkirchen gauge

On 25/10/2026 at 05:15 the Hofkirchen gauge read 166 cm, 6 cm lower than 24 hours earlier. Source: PEGELONLINE (WSV).

Gauge Hofkirchen is on the Danube at kilometre 2257, on the km 2282–2231 stretch.

Fairway depth and rule of thumb

The RNW is 207 cm and the fairway depth maintained below it (TuRNW) is 200 cm; after deducting 30 cm of safety margin the official rule of thumb comes out at Hofkirchen -37. In practice Hofkirchen -45 is used here upstream and Hofkirchen -40 downstream.

The fairway depth below RNW is what counts as long as no Fehltiefen are reported. Fehltiefen (shortfalls in fairway depth) are published on ELWIS Fehltiefen. The safety margin is not a statutory value and has to be taken on top of the reduced fairway depth listed there.

High water: Marke I and Marke II

At high water a Marke of 480 cm applies here.

Forecasts and neighbouring gauges

This gauge has 2 forecast sources: the 3-day forecast from Elwis (green) and the 6-week forecast from the BAfG (blue, set the time range to 6 weeks to see it). Upstream lies Deggendorf, downstream Passau Donau.

Leightering on the Danube (Straubing–Vilshofen)

Because the last 70‑km bottleneck between Straubing and Vilshofen on the Danube was never upgraded, a 250 cm loading draft is possible there on average only ~144 days per year. By contrast, the Rhine at Kaub allows this about ~300 days per year, as does the free‑flowing Austrian Danube. As a result, ships often arrive with too much draft and must transship part of the cargo in Regensburg (downstream) or Passau (upstream) onto additional vessels ("leightering") to reduce draft and pass this stretch. Afterwards, the cargo is often reloaded, or, if the destination is near Passau/Regensburg (e.g., Enns or Kelheim), they proceed together to the discharge port.

Rules of thumb per gauge and port ›