This morning we paused on the Main River to allow Anne Hayner-Hefner to board. She is an American who has lived in Germany for 20+ years and become something of an authority on the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. She gave us a nice introduction to the history of the canal and its modern day usage and maintenance.
In brief, establishing a waterway connection from the North Sea to the Black Sea has been a vision for centuries. In 793 AD, the Emperor Charlemagne ordered the construction of a canal (the Fossa Carolina) connecting the Schwäbische Rezat, a tributary of the Rednitz, to the Altmühl near Treuchtlingen. Between 1836 and 1846 the Ludwig Canal, or Ludwigskanal, named for King Ludwig I of Bavaria, was built between Bamberg and Kelheim. Thia canal was in use until 1950 when the decision was made to not repair damage it had suffered during World War II. The current canal stretching from Bamberg to Kelheim was started in 1960 and completed in 1992.
Along the canal, the European continental divide is crossed at Hilpoltstein. Over the 106 mile length of the canal, there are eleven locks from Bamberg up to Hilpoltstien and then another five down to Kelheim. While the locks on the Main seemed to run 6 foot to 12 foot in elevation change, the canal locks range from 15 feet to 81 feet in elevation change, with the largest change being at the last lock to Hilpoltstein to a final elevation of 406 meters (1,332 ft) above sea level.
Around 2:00 pm we disembarked to begin our walking tour of Bamberg. The weather threatened to be clear and sunny, with the high around 78F. Oh well, you can not control the weather.
The bus trip to the center of the city was about 10 minutes. We then started a guided tour of the cathedral and bishop palaces. This was entertaining.
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| My drug outlet next to St. Martin |
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| My meds |
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| St. Martin |
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| Neptune in the market place |
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| An American school bus left by the GI's...now a tourist bus |
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| Where we had smoked beer and lagniappe (German sausage) |
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