Danube Canal

The Donaukanal is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel, within the city of Vienna, Austria. It is 17.3 kilometres long and, unlike the Danube itself, it borders Vienna's city centre, Innere Stadt, where the Wien River flows into it.The Donaukanal bifurcates from the main river at the Nußdorf weir and lock complex, in Döbling, and joins it again just upstream of the "Praterspitz", at the Prater park in Simmering. The island thus formed between the Donaukanal and the Danube holds 2 of the 23 districts of Vienna: Brigittenau and Leopoldstadt. The canal is crossed by 15 road bridges and 5 rail bridges.Because in German, the name Kanal, which has been used since about 1700, evokes associations of an open sewer, attempts at renaming the Donaukanal have been made but have not met with success.