The name of the river is of unknown origin.[2] Nineteenth-century theories, such as a derivation from theProto-Celtic*yt-ese 'the water', and alleged to be cognate with theRiver Tees in England (ancientlyAthesis,Teesa),[3] have never been accepted by Celtic onomasts and are now completely obsolete.
The river source is near theReschen Pass (1,504 metres (4,934 ft)) close to the borders with Austria and Switzerland above theInn Valley. It flows through the artificial alpineLake Reschen. The lake is known for the church tower that marks the site of the former village ofAlt Graun ("Old Graun"); it was evacuated and flooded in 1953 after the dam was finished. NearGlurns, theRom River joins from the SwissVal Müstair.
The Adige runs eastward through theVinschgau toMerano, where it is met by thePasser river from the north. The section between Merano andBolzano is calledEtschtal, meaning Adige Valley. South of Bolzano, the river is joined by theEisack and turns south through a valley which has always been one of the major routes through the Alps, connecting theReschen and theBrenner passes, at 1,370 metres (4,490 ft) considered the easiest of the main Alpine passes.
TheChiusa di Salorno narrows atSalorno and marks the southernmost part of the predominantly German-speaking province of South Tyrol. The Adige was mentioned in the "Lied der Deutschen" of 1841 as the southern border of the Germanlanguage area. As of 2011 62% of Salorno speaks Italian and 37% speaks German.[4] In 1922 Germany adopted the song as its national anthem, although by that time Italy had taken control of all of the Adige.
The Adige is a home to themarble trout (Salmo marmoratus), but at far lower populations than in the past. Fish stocking is one of the most significant causes of the sharp reduction in the original (indigenous) fish population of this subspecies. It will spawn with and interbreed withbrown trout, which are regularly stocked in the river and its tributaries.[5]
