Main, a river of Germany, the largest affluent the Rhine receives from the right, is formed by the union of two branches, the White and the Red Main, 4 miles below Kulmbach, in north-east Bavaria. The White Main rises in the Fichtelgebirge, 2900 feet above sea-level; the Red Main, a few miles S. of Bayreuth. The river flows westwards by huge zigzags past Bamberg, Schweinfurt, Würzburg, Aschaffenburg, Hanau, Offenbach, and
Frankfort, and mingles its yellow waters with the green current of the Rhine opposite Mainz, after a total course of 307 miles, the last 205 of which are navigable. The chief affluents are, on the right, the Saale, and on the left, the Regnitz. The Main flows through a beautiful country, the hill-slopes generally covered with vineyards and surmounted by castles. Its waters communicate with those of the Danube by means of the Ludwigs-Kanal and the Altmühl. The Main divides politically North Germany from South Germany.