In the late 700s, Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Great, or Charlemagne in French, ordered the creation of a waterway that would link the Rhine River on the west with the Danube River on the southeastern edge of the empire. Charlemagne had a larger vision in mind: to connect the North Sea and the Black Sea via the two interconnected rivers through the 3000-meter long "Fossa Carolina," which linked tributaries of the Main River and the Danube.
Many European leaders, including Napoleon Bonaparte and King Ludwig I of Bavaria, sought to improve on Charlemagne's "Fossa Carolina" project, of which only 500 feet remain in existence. King Ludwig ordered the construction of the Ludwig-Main-Danube Canal in 1825, and work began on the waterway in 1836. Workers finished the Ludwig Canal 10 years later; it served as a major waterway between the North Sea and the Black Sea until it was heavily damaged during World War II.
Various German governments, including Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, planned to replace the Ludwig Canal with a modernized version known as the Main-Danube Canal after World War I. Different government entities conceived various plans and routes, and it wasn't until after the end of World War II that the Bamberg-Kelheim route was finally chosen. The Federal and Bavarian governments agreed upon this route and construction on the Main-Danube Canal began in 1966.
The Main-Danube Canal was not completed until 1992. It starts at Bamberg in Bavaria and joins the Danube at Kelheim. It is 106.25 miles (172 kilometers) long, 180 feet (55 meters) wide on average and 13.94 feet (4.25 meters) deep. The canal has 16 locks to enable vessels, inclding barges and river cruise ships, to travel from the North Sea to the Black Sea.
