Danube-Oder Canal

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The Danube-Oder Canal (German: Donau-Oder-Kanal; Polish: Kanał Odra-Dunaj) was a planned and partially-constructed artificial waterway of the Vienna Lobau that was supposed to stretch from the Morava River to the Oder River at Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Opole Voivodship, Poland.

The Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV had envisioned a waterway capable of taking ships from the Oder to the Danube in the 14th century. Records of further dreams of such a waterway stem from the 19th century.

During the Nazi era, the idea was reborn and the project was put into motion. The project would connect the Oder at Kędzierzyn-Koźle to the Danube at Vienna, stretching 320 kilometers and spanning an elevation of 124 meters.

On December 8, 1939, Rudolf Hess inaugurated the then-named Adolf Hitler Canal, but known as the Gliwice Canal (Polish: Kanał Gliwicki) that replaced the previous Kłodnica Canal. At the same time, he also performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Oder-Donau-Kanal. The work on the Upper Silesian side began in 1940.

Only a few kilometers of the planned 40-km long channel from Vienna to Angern an der March were actually dug in the years up to 1943, mainly in the areas around Lobau and Groß-Enzersdorf northeast of Vienna. Two of the pieces are today used for swimming and fishing. The third piece, just under 100 meters long, is still clearly recognizable today, connecting to the north-east corner of the Tankhafen on the Lobau.

Between 1964 and 1970, a part of the original plans gained attention from Poland again and an offshoot of the Gliwice Canal was constructed. This short, finished arm is known as Kanal Kędzierzynski (German, Kandrziner Kanal) and serves to connect the nitrogen factory Azoty Kędzierzyn AG to the Oder.

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