1. The Danube River
The Danube River is the second longest river in Europe where it is one of the
major methods of transportation. One reason for this is the fact that it is the only
major European river to flow west to east. The source of the river is located in the
Black Forest area of Germany. From there, it flows about 1,770 miles to the east.
The mouth of the river forms a delta on the Romanian coastline of the Black Sea.
The Danube River has been used as an important means of transportation of
soldiers for nearly 2,000 years. In the 200s, the river was the northern border of
the Roman Empire, and Roman soldiers no doubt used the river. Years later, the
Goths, Slavs, Huns, and other Germanic tribes used the Danube to cross into the
Roman Empire. Later, the Danube was used to gain access to Constantinople.
The Crusaders used the Danube to travel faster on their quest to regain the Holy
Land. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Turks used the Danube
for easier advancement into western and central Europe. Both the commercial
and military value of the Danube are still recognized today. Many treaties have
been signed to try to keep one country from having too much control of it. In the
early part of the 19th century, the Danube served as a link between the industrial
area of Germany and farmland of the Balkans. At this time, the Ottoman Empire
was weakening, but the Russian Empire was near the height of its power. Austria
and other powerful European nations recognized this threat to the area and were
able to prevent Russia from gaining the Danube delta.
Arthur

2. Danube River

3. Donaueschingen, 1900, The confluence of the Brigach and Breg form the
source of the Danube river from which the town gets its name.

4. Stone Bridge, Regensburg, Germany

5. Ulm, Germany

6. Ulm in 1493 - source of the Danube. Ulm, Germany

7. Regensburg, Germany

8. Near Ludwigsthal, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

9. The Danube river and monastery in Obermarchtal, Germany

10. Passau

11. Brucknerhaus, Linz, Austria

12. Vienna, Austria

13. Vienna, Austria

14. Vienna, Austria

15. Winter, Vienna Austria

16. Monastery Melk, Austria

17. Greifenstein on the Danube River, Austria

18. Bratislava, Slovakia

19. Bratislava, Slovakia

20. Maria Valeria Bridge at Esztergom, Hungary

21. Budapest, Hungary

22. Budapest, Hungary

23. Budapest, Hungary

24. Budapest, Hungary

25. Budapest, Hungary

26. Danube near Visegrád, Hungary

27. Iron Gates

28. Danube, Iron Gates

29. Iron Gates

30. Iron Gate dam

31. Ruins of the Roman bridge over the Danube at Turnu-Severin, Romania. In
1982 on a cruise to this area on a hydrofoil, I was arrested after taking some pictures
here, as it is on the border between Yugoslavia and Romania. After being
interrogated for about 2 hours, my film was confiscated. (The American Embassy did
not help)

32. Belgrade, Yugoslavia

33. Novi Sad, Yugoslavia

34. Belgrade, Yugoslavia

35. Railroad Bridge, Belgrade, Serbia

36. Orşova, Romania

37. Vidin, Bulgaria

38. Nikopol, Bulgaria

39. Danube River, Border
Romania, Bulgaria

40. The Danube Delta

41. The Danube Delta