[1] Schanzengraben is, among the adjoint Katz bastion at the Old Botanical Garden and the so-called Bauschänzli bulwark, one of the last remains of the Baroque fortifications of Zürich.

It marks the border of the inner-city districts of Enge and City, and flows after about 1,150 metres (3,773 ft) into the Sihl, at the western side of Zürich Hauptbahnhof where Gessnerallee and Usteristrasse cross the Gessner bridge.

According to the application, at the weir near the indoor aquatic centre City estimated 3,000 liters/second drop a height of 75 centimetres (30 in) and could supply electricity for about 20 households.

Due to its former military defensive use, the moat has a widely octagonal zig-zag form, and was completed as part of the Baroque fortifications of Zurich around 1642 AD.

In 1830 the moat was redesigned as the second effluence of Lake Zurich, then redirected to the Sihl, and therefore it 'survived' the demolition of the Baroque fortification system.