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 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 as official Austrian football championships by the Austrian Bundesliga. The 1943–44 season saw two new clubs in the league, LSV Markersdorf an