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26-831: 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 two of the 23 districts of Vienna : Brigittenau (20th District) and Leopoldstadt (2nd District). The canal is crossed by fifteen road bridges and five rail bridges. Because in German ,

52-399: A platform that served as an observation post. The chain magazine is located to the south of the administration building and is a one- to two-storey building. 48°15′33″N 16°22′09″E  /  48.25917°N 16.36917°E  / 48.25917; 16.36917 Franz-Josefs-Bahn The Franz-Josefs-Bahn ( lit.   ' Emperor Franz Joseph railway line ' )

78-440: A very limited degree of control over the amount of water in the canal. In particular because of the need to protect the tributary canals built along the Donaukanal, it was essential that the level of water in the canal did not rise by more than 80 centimetres. The Nussdorf weir was built between August 1894 and 1899. The walls were finished in 1897 and the steel construction was mounted by August 1898. The administration building and

104-617: Is a standard gauge railway line in the Austrian state of Lower Austria . It runs 163.1 kilometres (101.3 mi) from Vienna , the Austrian capital, to the border with the Czech Republic at Gmünd . The line was originally built by the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway and is today owned and operated by Austrian Federal Railways ( ÖBB ). The southern terminus of the line is at Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof , in

130-409: Is referred to using a range of variations of its name: The truss bridge was built between 1894 and 1898. Its span measures 49 metres, arching over both the 40-metre wide canal and the 9-metre wide towpath . The construction of the bridge was made necessary for structural reasons; the three main bearing walls and the strong horizontal bar support both the weight of the bridge and the pressure created by

156-775: The Alsergrund district of Vienna . From there, the line follows the west bank of the Donaukanal to Wien Heiligenstadt and a junction with the Suburban line and the Donauuferbahn . From there, the line follows the Danube river, finally crossing it at Tulln an der Donau . At Tulln, it has a junction with the Tullnerfeld railway line  [ de ] . From Tulln, the line runs west-northwest towards Gmünd on

182-533: The Czech border. At Gmünd, the line crosses the Lužnice river and continues to České Velenice , where it splits into the České Velenice–České Budějovice railway line  [ de ] and České Velenice–Praha railway line  [ de ] . The Franz-Josefs-Bahn hosts primarily Vienna S-Bahn and regional traffic. The S40 operates at hourly intervals between Wien Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof and St. Polten , leaving

208-565: The Ostbahnbrücke and directly before the harbour in Freudenau . The construction of the weir and lock was necessary to protect the new developments on the canal (the metropolitan railway, the tributary canals and later the harbour and ships) from floods and ice, but also to maintain sufficient water in the canal so that ships could pass. Wilhelm von Engerth's Schwimmtor provided satisfactory protection from floating ice, but it only gave

234-640: The Wilhelm von Engerth ’s floating barrier, the Schwimmtor . The Schwimmtor remained in service until World War I and was finally scrapped in 1945. The weir and lock in Nussdorf and the Kaiserbadwehr (another weir) were the only hydraulic engineering works that were ever realised as part of the plan to create a harbour in the Donaukanal. Two further weir and lock arrangements had been envisaged near

260-559: The City of Vienna announced that the Stadtrat Kurt Heller had officially opened the fully mechanised lock. To ensure that sufficient water was available for the lock even when the surrounding canals are blocked with ice, a tributary canal was also built. The three- to four-storey administration building that stands near the weir and lock was designed by Otto Wagner and built in secessionist style. The building's roof features

286-519: The Donaukanal to reach the Danube. The Donaukanaltreiben Festival is held every year in June in several locations along the Donaukanal. Mainly Austrian professional and amateur bands are invited but from year to year the organisers invite bands from the neighbouring countries. The banks of the Donaukanal were immortalized by Heinz Conrads in his song "A schräge Wiesn" ("A Sloping Lawn"; later covered by Willi Resetarits and Rainhard Fendrich ), where

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312-591: The Franz-Josefs-Bahn at Tulln . Regional trains operate every hour to Eggenburg and every two hours to České Velenice . Direct service between Vienna and Prague over the route, defunct since 1992, resumed in December 2022 as the Silva Nortica ( lit.   ' Northern Forest ' ). Regional-Express trains operate hourly to Krems an der Donau , crossing the Danube at Tulln and leaving

338-483: The Schwimmtor. However the Schwimmtor remained in use until World War I , and was not scrapped until 1945. In the early 1990s, work started in the southern section of the Donaukanal (between the 2nd and 3rd districts ) to create a recreation area along its banks. The paths on both sides of the Donaukanal are regularly used by joggers , cyclists and skaters . Recently, there have been successful attempts during

364-463: The area. The power station's 12 turbines produce around 28 gigawatt hours per year and thus provide electricity for approximately 10,000 households. The Schemerlbrücke ("Schemerl bridge"), also known as Löwenbrücke ("lions bridge"), is named after Josef Schemerl Ritter von Leytenbach, k. k. Hofrat and Hofbauratsdirektor, who developed the first plans to regulate the Danube in 1810. His plans were not realised. He died in 1844. The bridge

390-457: The bridge was repaired and in 1978 it was thoroughly restored. In contrast to the Nussdorf weir, the Nussdorf lock is not very well known. Construction on the lock also began in August 1894. The chamber lock is 85 metres long and 15 metres wide, but at the same time, a canal 20 metres wide, 3.5 metres deep and with an embankment slope of 1:2 1 ⁄ 2 had to be built to make it possible to use

416-482: The chain magazine followed in 1899. Otto Wagner was employed by the transport commission for the project; the architectural plans for the weir and the Schemerlbrücke, the adjoining buildings and (possibly) the lock are the work of Sigmund Taussig . Because of the site's highly visible location – at the point at which the Donaukanal leads away from the Danube towards the centre of Vienna – Otto Wagner considered

442-476: The damming of the water in the canal (the weir is also referred to as a bridge weir as a result). The Schemmerlbrücke was however also needed for the weir machinery. In April 1945, the Schemmerlbrücke, along with the other bridges over the Donaukanal, was intentionally rendered unusable. In 1947, a wooden structure was built which made it possible for pedestrians to cross the canal. Between 1953 and 1955,

468-456: The hero, Franz, chooses not to go on holiday. Instead, he spends his spare time napping on the grassy slopes next to the Donaukanal. 48°12′47″N 16°22′31″E  /  48.21306°N 16.37528°E  / 48.21306; 16.37528 Nu%C3%9Fdorf weir and lock The Nussdorf weir and lock are works of hydraulic engineering located in the Viennese suburb of Nussdorf at

494-419: The lock. This canal made it necessary to build two railway bridges for the Donauuferbahn as well as a road bridge between Nussdorf and Handelskai . It is not known for sure whether this lock was also designed by Otto Wagner, how it survived World War II , and why it was renovated between 1964 and 1966. Presumably, it was too small for modern ships and its technical features needed updating. On 25 November 1966,

520-524: The name Kanal , which has been used since about 1700, evokes associations of an open sewer , attempts at renaming the Donaukanal have been made (one suggestion was Kleine Donau — Little Danube ) but have not met with success. The name "Donaukanal" ("Danube Canal"), has been used since 1686, for the southern branch of the River Danube in Vienna. Originally a natural branch, during 1598–1600, it

546-571: The point where the Donaukanal leaves the Danube . Designed by Austrian architect Otto Wagner , The weir and lock were built following the adoption of a new law in July 1892, which also authorised the construction of the Vienna Stadtbahn and the transformation of the Donaukanal into a winter harbour . The weir and lock in Nussdorf are commonly confused with one another, although they are actually two separate constructions built to serve

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572-487: The same purpose. The weir and lock are located behind the Nussdorf station on the Franz-Josefs-Bahn . Although they are named after a suburb in the 19th district of Vienna , Döbling , they actually fall within the jurisdiction of the 20th district, Brigittenau . Before the construction of the weir and lock in Nussdorf, the Donaukanal was protected from floating ice and to a large extent also from flooding by

598-463: The summer months at turning the place into a more attractive recreational area (summer stages, flea markets , cafés, etc.). Boat rides circling Leopoldstadt and Brigittenau via the Donaukanal and Danube start at Schwedenplatz , close to the city centre. The same location provides the Vienna terminal of the Twin City Liner fast ferry service that links Vienna with Bratislava , transiting

624-409: The weir (technically a needle dam but also a bridge weir) as the gate to the city and thus designed it to be particularly impressive. It features imposing columns topped with lions made of bronze. These lions are the work of Rudolf Weyr and were later the model for the logo of Gräf & Stift , an Austrian automobile producer. The weir passed its first test in 1899, when the land on the Donaukanal

650-400: Was regulated for the first time by Baron von Hoyos . In the 19th century, the Schwimmtor , a movable floating barrier, was constructed near the upstream entrance to the canal. It was designed to protect the canal from floods and drift ice, and entered service in 1873. The Nußdorf weir and lock complex were constructed between 1894 and 1899, and provide a greater degree of flood control than

676-424: Was successfully protected from flooding. The needle dam was replaced with a modern segment weir during improvements carried out on Vienna's defenses against flooding between 1971 and 1975. The new weir featured barriers that could be lowered to the bottom of the canal. Between 2004 and 2005, the Nussdorf power station was built downstream of the weir and lock without any visible changes to the historical appearance of

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