Which canal in Germany connects the Main and Danube rivers?

The canal in Germany that connects the Main and Danube rivers is the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal. Also called the Main-Danube Canal or Europa Canal, it crosses Bavaria from Bamberg on the Main to Kelheim on the Danube.

The modern canal is 171 kilometers long and forms part of an inland waterway linking the North Sea and the Black Sea. Ships can travel from the Rhine delta near Rotterdam through the Main and Danube systems toward southeastern Europe. The canal crosses the European Watershed, requiring locks and water-management systems to overcome the terrain.

The idea has deep roots: Charlemagne ordered the Fossa Carolina, an early connecting canal, in 793. The nineteenth-century Ludwig Canal operated between 1836 and 1846 but eventually became uneconomic. Construction of the present route began in the twentieth century, and the completed canal opened on September 25, 1992. Its 16 locks raise vessels to a summit elevation of about 406 meters.