Alb-Donau-Kreis named after the Danube River (German "Donau") and the Swabian Alb ("Schwäbische Alb") mountains. The Danube enters the district in the southwest, runs through the southern parts of the district and leaves eastwards to Ulm. North of the Danube banks the hills of the Swabian Alb rise. The hill chain extends from southwest to northeast parallel to the course of the Danube River and is continued on either side of the district. An affluent of the Danube, the Iller River, forms the southeastern border of the Alb-Donau district, before it meets the Danube in Ulm. The coat of arms is
Donau (horse) for $2,100 in 1912 and from Patton's personal correspondence, the gelding had a nervous and flighty personality similar to his older brother Donau. According to Thomas Piatt, Donau had a fiery temper as a yearling, repeatedly kicking any other colt that would come near him. Piatt typically reared his yearlings in group pens, but Donau's fractious behavior led Piatt to separate him from other horses. Piatt raised Donau at Brookdale Farm until September 1908, when he was sold to William Gerst for $350. Gerst emigrated to the United States from Germany as a child and was a founder and part