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
1943–44 Gauliga Donau-Alpenland der Pielach and SK Amateure Steyr. Steyr withdrew from the league on 20 April 1944, had its record expunged and was relegated. 1943–44 Gauliga Donau-Alpenland The 1943–44 Gauliga Donau-Alpenland was the sixth season of the Gauliga Donau-Alpenland, formerly the Gauliga Ostmark, the first tier of football in German-annexed Austria from 1938 to 1945. First Vienna FC won the championship and qualified for the 1944 German football championship, reaching the quarter-finals where it lost 3–2 to eventual winners Dresdner SC. The Gauliga Ostmark and Gauliga Donau-Alpenland titles from 1938 to 1944, excluding the 1944–45 season which was not completed, are recognised