Lech (anc. Licus), a river of Germany, a tributary of the Danube, rising from Lake Formanin in Vorarlberg, Austria, at a height of 6,000 ft., E. of the Rothe Wand mountain (9,000 ft. high). Entering Tyrol, it flows for about 50 m. in an E. N. E. course, along a narrow and sombre valley, to Reute, and thence in a winding course toward the north, between famous ridges and lakes of the Algau Alps, to Fussen, above which it enters Bavaria. Near the boundary it forms a cataract and the finest rapids in Germany. It then flows N., on the confines of Upper Bavaria and Swabia, passing Schongau, Landsberg, Augsburg, and Lech-hausen, and terminating its course of about 180 m. near a ruined castle in the vicinity of Lechsend. Its principal affluents are the Vila and the "Wertach. Owing to the torrent-like velocity of the Lech it is not suitable for navigation. The plain of Lechfeld, between the Lech and the Wertach, extending from Landsberg to Augsburg, was the scene of a memorable victory achieved by the emperor Otho I. over the Hungarians, Aug. 10, 955. In opposing the passage of the Lech, near Rain, by Gus-tavus Adolphus, Tilly was mortally wounded, April 5, 1632.