1. The geographical situation of the River Danube

 

The river Danube - flowing 2,780 kilometres from its source in the Black Forest of Germany through the Romanian and Ukrainian Delta to the Black Sea. Together with its numerous tributaries, the Danube comprises together parts of 8 of Central and Eastern Europe. The Blue Danube, as it is so frequently referred to, binds together eighty million people, a multitude of different traditions, cultural images, and past experiences. It combines diverse areas such as the Alps, the Puszta, and the Delta. The Danube, and especially its wetland area, are habitat for a diversity of plants and animals, and a home for rare and threatened species. 

The river Danube supports the supply of drinking water, agriculture, industry, fishing,

tourism and recreation, is used for power generation, navigation, and too often it is the final destination of disposal of waste waters. These intensive uses have created problems of water quality and quantity, and reduced biodiversity in the basin.

 

 

A brief description of Danube River Basin

 

The Danube has a total length of 2,780 kilometres and a drainage area of about 817,000 square kilometres. About one third of the Danube river basin is mountainous, while the remaining consist of hills and plains. Also the climate is very diverse; influence of Atlantic climate in the western part of the upper basin, Mediterranean through Drava and Sava river basins, while the rest has a Continental climate. The annual precipitation is from about 2,000 mm per year in the high regions to the plains, where precipitation is only about 500 mm per year.

 

 

The Danube river basin can be divided into three sub-regions: the upper, the middle and the lower basin with the Danube Delta. The Upper Basin extends from the source (Germany) to Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Major tributaries here from the south are rivers Iller, Lech, Isar, Inn, Traun, Enns, and from the north the rivers Altmühl, Naab, Regen, Kamp and, as the most important, Morava.

 

The Middle Basin is the largest and comprises the part from Bratislava to the Iron Gate dams (Yugoslavia/Romania). The major tributaries in this region are from the left Vah, Hron, Ipel and Tisza (the largest tributary in the whole basin), and from the right the rivers Leitha, Raba, Sio, Drava, Sava and Velika Morava. At Moldova Veche in the Balkan Mountains the 117 kilometres long gorge section of the Iron Gate begins which is filled by large reservoirs for hydropower and navigation.

 

The Lower Basin is formed by the Romanian-Bulgarian lowland and its upland plateaus and mountains. Here the Danube flows as a wide (800 metres), slowly moving river with well-developed alluvial plains. Much of the sediment load of the Danube is deposited behind the Iron Gate dams, resulting in severe riverbank erosion in this downstream river plain. The important tributaries in this region are from the south Timok, Iskar, Ossam and Yantra, and from the north Jiu, Olt, Arges, Ialomita, and, most importantly, Siret and Prut.

 

The Danube Delta covers an area of about 600,000 hectares. It was created by the division of the river into three main branches, forming a triangle with about 70-km long sides. Almost two thirds of the delta area is seasonally submerged. The Romanian part of the delta was declared a Biosphere Reserve in September 1990 and registered under the Remsar Convention. Over a half of its area is listed under World Heritage Convention. Only about 10% of the Ukrainian part of the delta is protected and the rest being used for agriculture.

 

The other unique ecosystem in this region is Karst. Many of the karstic species are endemic and endangered of extinction, as the karstic systems are very sensitive to pollution.

 

Beside rivers and wetlands, forests are the dominant natural element of the Danube River Basin. They cover between less than 20% (Hungary) up to 50% and more (Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina). While forested areas increase, they suffer from air pollution, storms and insect pest attacks.

 

The most important problems are the high nutrients load (nitrogen and phosphorus), changes in the river flow patterns and sediment transport regimes.

The discharge of organic matter creates the major problems in many of the Danube tributaries.

Pollution of the groundwater is a problem faced by all the Danube countries.

The burning of low-grade coal for industry and domestic heating causes air pollution in the downstream countries.

Air pollution is a cause of acid precipitation, which also has substantial transboundary effects.

In a large part of the basin soil erosion is a serious problem. Riverbed erosion is a natural phenomenon in riverine processes. However, it has increased due to canalisation and dam constructions, which reduces the balancing sedimentation processes downstream. The excavation of sand and gravel also contributes to erosion.

 

Major tributaries of the Danube in Hungary are the Tisza, Morva, Dráva, and Rába. Some countries have set up a committee, which has tasks regarding navigation on the river. The biggest floods of the Danube were in 1838 and in 1959 that is why some canals have been built for example the Danube-Tisza canal and the Danube-Majna canal. The rivers Danube and Tisza divide Hungary into three parts that is Transdanubia, Danube-Tisza region and Transtiszanian region. The flora and fauna reflect a colourful picture with 167 species, for example eels, pelicans, gulls, catfish.

 

There are two national parks along the Danube in Hungary, that is the Danube-Ipoly National Park in the Danube-bend and Danube-Dráva national Park (49479 hectares), where the two rivers meet.

The stretch of the Danube between Esztergom and Budapest including the settlements along the right and left banks of the river is called the Danube-bend. Its natural beauty, historic relics and its proximity to the capital are all factors that rise the Danube-bend to a first class holiday and excursion region.

 

 

 

 

2. Its role in the Hungarian history

 

Here are some important data from Hungarian history, which are also in connection with the Danube in some ways.

 

 

1241	-the country came under the rule of Mongolia as far as the stretch of the Danube
1242	-Batu khan and his army came across the frozen Danube
1443	Wladislaw I invaded Serbia going across the Danube
1457	King Matthias was chosen to be the king of Hungary by the lower nobility on the frozen Danube
1490	-after his death, king Matthias’ body was being carried on the Danube  from Buda to Székesfehérvár
1526	-castles along the river surrendered. The Turks destroyed the Danube-region as far as the city of Győr
1656	-the union of some counties started the regulation of the river Danube in the surroundings of Győr and Pozsony
1763	-a big earthquake shook Komárom and Buda along the Danube
1802	-a navigable canal connecting the Danube and the Tisza was built (Ferenc-canal)
1817	-Bernhard Anfal’s steamship named Carolina tried its way on the Danube between pest and Komárom
1833	-regulation works on the Lower Danube was started
1838	-the icy water of the Danube flooded Pest
1884	-the Novi Sad Danube-bridge was opened to traffic
1933	-the first Danube cruiser appeared on the river
1944	-The arrow-cross men executed two hundred prisoners of war on the riverbank. The bodies were thrown into the Danube
1954	-the Danube flooded Budapest again

 

 

3. The Danube in the Hungarian literature

 

The river Danube has been visualised by poets in many poems. They can express a lot of things with the river, such as their emotions, their state of mind. Many Hungarian poets have drawn inspiration from the river and many legends are linked with it. Books have also been published, which contain the most famous poems, legends and data about the Danube. The most poems have been written by Petőfi Sándor, but there are works, whose writers are unknown. All of the works are highly appreciated by the Hungarians. Some of them are listed here. 

 

Csokonai Vitéz Mihály: A Duna

Vörösmarty Mihály: Buvár Kund

Eötvös József: Búcsú

Petőfi Sándor: A Dunán

              Távolból

Arany János: Népdal

Tompa Mihály: A folyam

Arany László: A délibábok hősétől

Ady Endre: A Duna vallomása

József Attila: A Dunánál

Illyés Gyula: A Dunánál Esztergomban

 

 

4. Culture, traditions and tourism

 

The development of the Danube-region has slowed down, but maybe this is why it has been able to preserve its several potential values and production traditions.

The forms of settlements and the vividness of production, social and lifestyle peculiarities make this region so valuable.

The old horticultural villages follow each other from Dunapaj through Géderlak to Dusnok and people grow peppers, cabbages, salads, beetroots and other vegetables based on their traditions on the loamy land of the river-valley. A lodging-system backing up the expansion of last century agricultural production was being developed in Kalocsa and its vicinity. Lodgings had been created in areas where they were protected from floods and met the claims of the landlord, too. The peasants (the former serfs) have created lively ethnographical-regional units and communities. The independent ethnographical group was being pulled together by the strong sense of belonging, discipline and labour-culture, strong family ties, the same dialect, folk art and costume.

 

Among the settlements, the village of Dunapaj deserves accentuation, where the plan of the village has still got the works of the onetime gardening-system. While the centre of the village was the inhabited area, people kept their animals, fodder, tools in the surrounding gardens, quasi specifying the spatial order of rural lifestyle and the use of land.

A nice inventory can be made of the regional-touristic values of the Danube-region, which can be taken into account by travelling around the area.

There is the Tass angler –paradise on the north, where the famous puszta of Apaj can be reached quickly, which is the home of the original domestic animals, horses, cattles regarding as national treasures together with the most beautiful bird of the Great Plain, the bustard. 

 

The project has been constructed by Czine Ádám, Czine Zsigmond, Kovács Erzsébet and Szilágyi Tamás with the help of Lakatos Júlia and Juhász Ildikó, teachers of Informatics and English.