My Vienna: 1 capital city, 4 Danubes
- Southeast view from Leopoldsberg – 1 Jun 2022.
Above/featured: Southeast view from Leopoldsberg in the city’s 19th district. Visible are the waters of the Old Danube, New Danube, Danube, and the Danube Canal. Photo, 1 Jun 2022.
Vienna loves the Danube so much that the city now has four water features with the label “Donau”.
- Alte Donau (Old Danube)
- Donau (Danube)
- Donaukanal (Danube Canal)
- Neue Donau (New Danube)
All of it is thanks to the regulation of the Danube river after the city of Vienna and the surrounding region had to put up with frequent flooding. Vienna embarked on works of flood-control engineering in two major periods of construction: 1870 to 1875, and 1972 to 1988.
Once a former arm of the river, the Old Danube is now a closed body of water, a crescent-shaped lake that’s been cutoff by the “linearization” of the Danube. A former natural arm of the river, the Danube Canal was regulated for the first time around 1600. Most visitors will encounter the Danube Canal which is best integrated with the city with the appearance of multiple road and rail crossings and the canal’s reach with 7 of the 23 city’s districts. The Danube river proper was completely regulated and straightened during the second engineering period, which also saw construction of the New Danube as a secondary flood channel in parallel with the primary river.
Alte Donau (Old Danube)

Early-morning kayaks at the southeast corner of the Alte Donau, from Seestern in the 22nd district. Photo, 7 Jun 2022.
Donau (Danube)

Northwest-facing view over the Danube river, from Reichsbrücke bridge in the 22nd district. Photo, 4 Jun 2022.

Southeast-facing view at dusk from Brigittenauer Sporn in the 20th district – 11 Jun 2022.
Donaukanal (Danube Canal)

On the Salztorbrücke bridge in the 2nd district, facing northwest over the Danube canal. At left is the Ringturm which in 1955 became the 2nd skyscraper constructed in the city’s history. Photo, 31 May 2022.

On the Schmerlbrücke bridge in the 20th district, facing northwest in fading dusk light. In the background is the opening of the Danube canal from the Danube river proper. Photo at dusk, 11 Jun 2022.
Neue Donau (New Danube)

On the Jedlesee Bridge in the 21st district, facing northwest over the New Danube – 4 Jun 2022.

At Kleinwasserkraftwerk Wehr 1 (small hydroelectric plant) in the 22nd district, facing northwest over the New Danube – 7 Jun 2022.
This video provided the spark for the present visual description. I made the images above in May and June 2022 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-mQV.
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