Donau-Ries north there is the Nördlinger Ries, a huge depression, which is in fact an ancient impact crater, caused by a meteorite some 14.8 million years ago. Donau-Ries Donau-Ries ("Danube-Ries") is a "Landkreis" (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Ansbach, Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Eichstätt, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Aichach-Friedberg, Augsburg and Dillingen, and by the state of Baden-Württemberg (districts of Heidenheim and Ostalbkreis). From Palaeolithic times on the Nördlinger Ries was a very attractive site for human settlement. The valley of the Danube was abounding with game, and many caves in the slopes of the
Donau (horse) the "Daily Racing Form" suggesting that the break from racing was due to Donau being a "track demon" with a "disposition to do nothing asked of him." Donau was gelded at the end of his three-year-old season in an attempt to curb his behavior, but he was still fractious. However, in March of 1912 he won the South Carolina Selling Stakes at Palmetto Park in Charleston, South Carolina. Donau was retired from flat racing in December 1912, at age five. Donau was in the process of being re-trained for steeplechasing when he died suddenly in February 1913 during a disease