The Fossa Carolina was a navigable channel connecting the Swabian Rezat river to the Altmühl

Altmühl

The Altmühl is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Danube and is approximately 230 km in length.The source of the Altmühl is located close to the city of Ansbach. From here the river runs southeastwards as a narrow brook to enter the Altmühlsee north of Gunzenhausen...

 river (the Rhine basin to the Danube basin). It was created during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 long before the Ludwig Canal

Ludwig Canal

The Ludwig Canal, also known as the Ludwig-Donau-Main-Kanal or Ludwigskanal, is an abandoned canal in Germany. It linked the Danube River at Kelheim with the Main River at Bamberg, thus connecting the Danube basin with the Rhine basin...

 and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal

Rhine-Main-Danube Canal

The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal , located in Bavaria, Germany, connects the Main and the Danube rivers across the European Watershed, running from Bamberg via Nuremberg to Kelheim...

. This Channel was the first to link the Rhine basin to the Danube basin

In 793 Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 gave orders to dig a 3 kilometers long channel from Treuchtlingen

Treuchtlingen

Treuchtlingen is a town in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany.-Geography:Treuchtlingen is situated on the river Altmühl, 9 km southwest of Weißenburg in Bayern, and 45 km northeast of Donauwörth...

 to Weißenburg in Bayern. It seems that the goal of this work was to improve the transportation of goods between Rhineland

Rhineland

Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....

 and Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

. Another theory (less credible) tells that the main purpose was to bring back Charlemagne's war vessels from the Danube to the Rhine. According to some contemporary chroniclers, the channel was unfinished due to heavy rains and geological problems. But other sources let think that it was completed and fully operational. This channel worked with several ponds, dikes and dams.

Today only a 500 meters long part of the Channel still exists.

External links

• http://www.bayern.de/wwa-an/html,1775.html The Fossa Carolina museum (German)
• http://www.ingolstadt.de/stadtmuseum/scheuerer/ausstell/ing06-84.htm (German)