Fun Facts about the River Danube

Some of the fun facts about the river Danube, mixed with a bit of a quiz (with answers below):

Danube river Budapest – Zsoolt Photography

1, the river Danube is the 2nd longest river in Europe. Can you guess which is the longest river in Europe then? A bit of help: the longest European river is in Russia (yeah, the western part of Russia, as far as the Ural mountain goes is still part of the European continent). The answer is at the bottom.

2, The long and wide river of the Danube starts off as 2 little streams, which join into one flow in Donaueschingen in Germany. There is even a nice stone structure with statues, which symbolically show that the Danube originates there in Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest. Do you know why is the Black Forest called the Black Forest? See the answer at the bottom.

3, The river Danube is a truly international river, which flows through ten countries. Only about 10% of the waters of the river are going through Hungary (or Austria, or Serbia). Can you guess which country takes up most of the river Danube in Europe?

4, There are 4 famous cities (capital cities) in Europe where the river Danube runs through: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade. These cities were founded by the Romans (who else?) – three of them. Can you guess which of these cities were towns founded by the Romans? See the reply of the Danube quiz question below.

5, The river Danube has become part of the Trans European waterways since 1992. These water ways are about 3500 km (2175 miles) long, reaching from Rotterdam in the north to Sulina by the Black Sea in the south. Do you know in which country the river Danube flows into the Black Sea? See the key to the quiz below.

6, The first river cruises on the river Danube came about with the inception of the steam engine, and the river Danube becoming a tourist destination and entertainment in the 19th century Austria-Hungary. The first steam engine floated on the river in 1830, and in a very short span of time, within a few years, the river Danube had become a major route, and a favourite passtime for many: local river cruises were abundant. Budapest offers beautiful river cruises, which are truly unique.

River Danube Budapest – Pablo Szekely’s photo

1, The longest river in Europe is the river Volga in Russia. So the Danube (or Duna, in Hungarian) is only the second longest.

2, The Black Forest has not been burnt to black, nor is it a special tree, which is black. The Romans found the forests too dark to walk in. To quote Wikipedia: “because the dense growth of conifers in the forest blocked out most of the light inside the forest.”

3, Romania: almost 30%.

4, Vienna = Vindobona, Budapest = Aquincum (today in Old Buda district, i.e. Óbuda, District III), Belgrade = Singidunum. Bratislava was not developed into a town, tough there were important military camps founded here as part of the Roman borderline, the Limes Romanus.

5, Romania. Sulina is a little village of about 3,500 inhabitnats, the easternmost point of Romania.