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Danube river near Kelheim, just a few kilometres away from Weltenburg Abbey and the Weltenburg Narrows, seen from the Michelsberg, Kelheim, Bavaria
Some background information:
The Danube is a river in Central and Eastern Europe. With a length of 2,857 km (1,785 miles) and a flow of water of 6,700 cubic metres per second it is the European Union's longest and the continent's second longest river (only outreached by the Volga).
Classified as an international waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen in Germany’s Black Forest area at the confluence of the rivers Brigach and Breg. It flows southeast while passing through or bordering ten countries and passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine. Because the Danube leads from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, it is also often called the “Black River”.
The word Danube is presumably a loan from a Scythian language. It derives from the Proto-Indo-European language word "dãnu", which was apparently a term for "river". The Hindu river goddess is also named “Danu”. In the Roman era the river was called Danubius. Partially it was one of the frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Between the late 14th and late 19th centuries, the Ottoman Empire competed first with the Kingdom of Hungary and later with the Austrian Habsburgs for controlling the Danube, which formed the northern border of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Many of the Ottoman–Hungarian and Ottoman–Habsburg wars were fought along the river. The last major war of the Ottoman Empire along the Danube was the Russo-Turkish War (1877 to 1878).
Nowadays, along its course, the Danube is a source of drinking water for about twenty million people. However some countries find it too difficult to clean the water because of extensive pollution.
In the 19th century, the Danube was a vital waterway but was, as The Times of London put it, "annually swept by ice that will lift a large ship out of the water or cut her in two as if it was a carrot." Today, as "Corridor VII" of the European Union, the Danube is an important transport route. Since the opening of the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, the river connects the port of Rotterdam and the industrial centres of Western Europe with the Black Sea and, also, through the Danube – Black Sea Canal, with the port of Constanţa in Romania.
The town of Kelheim in Lower Bavaria is situated on the confluence of the rivers Danube and Altmuehl. Today it has a population of more than 15,500 residents.
Because of its important strategic location it already was the site of a large Iron Age oppidum in the La Tène period. Kelheim was first mentioned in document in 866. In 879 it became the seat of the Earls of Kelsgau and in the 11th century the seat of the later Bavarian royal dynasty of Wittelsbach, which also provided two Holy Roman Emperors. In 1181 Kelheim received its town charter. In the period that followed it became a main trading post of goods like wine, salt, fish, livestock, stones and wood.
The Michelsberg is a hill, which rears up 126 metres above the Danube. It is famous for the Befreiungshalle (in English: Hall of Liberation) on top of the hill, whose building was ordered by King Ludwig I of Bavaria in commemoration of the the victories against Napoleon during the Wars of Liberation that lasted from 1813 to 1815.
The construction was already started in 1842, but not completed before 1863, because the architect Leo von Klentze had to alter the plans several times on the behest of the king. Today the Befreiungshalle on top of the Michelsberg attracts about 150,000 visitors each year and hence is a main centre of attraction in Lower Bavaria.
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Danube river near Kelheim, just a few kilometres away from Weltenburg Abbey and the Weltenburg Narrows, seen from the Michelsberg, Kelheim, Bavaria
Some background information:
The Danube is a river in Central and Eastern Europe. With a length of 2,857 km (1,785 miles) and a flow of water of 6,700 cubic metres per second it is the European Union's longest and the continent's second longest river (only outreached by the Volga).
Classified as an international waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen in Germany’s Black Forest area at the confluence of the rivers Brigach and Breg. It flows southeast while passing through or bordering ten countries and passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine. Because the Danube leads from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, it is also often called the “Black River”.
The word Danube is presumably a loan from a Scythian language. It derives from the Proto-Indo-European language word "dãnu", which was apparently a term for "river". The Hindu river goddess is also named “Danu”. In the Roman era the river was called Danubius. Partially it was one of the frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Between the late 14th and late 19th centuries, the Ottoman Empire competed first with the Kingdom of Hungary and later with the Austrian Habsburgs for controlling the Danube, which formed the northern border of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Many of the Ottoman–Hungarian and Ottoman–Habsburg wars were fought along the river. The last major war of the Ottoman Empire along the Danube was the Russo-Turkish War (1877 to 1878).
Nowadays, along its course, the Danube is a source of drinking water for about twenty million people. However some countries find it too difficult to clean the water because of extensive pollution.
In the 19th century, the Danube was a vital waterway but was, as The Times of London put it, "annually swept by ice that will lift a large ship out of the water or cut her in two as if it was a carrot." Today, as "Corridor VII" of the European Union, the Danube is an important transport route. Since the opening of the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, the river connects the port of Rotterdam and the industrial centres of Western Europe with the Black Sea and, also, through the Danube – Black Sea Canal, with the port of Constanţa in Romania.
The town of Kelheim in Lower Bavaria is situated on the confluence of the rivers Danube and Altmuehl. Today it has a population of more than 15,500 residents.
Because of its important strategic location it already was the site of a large Iron Age oppidum in the La Tène period. Kelheim was first mentioned in document in 866. In 879 it became the seat of the Earls of Kelsgau and in the 11th century the seat of the later Bavarian royal dynasty of Wittelsbach, which also provided two Holy Roman Emperors. In 1181 Kelheim received its town charter. In the period that followed it became a main trading post of goods like wine, salt, fish, livestock, stones and wood.
The Michelsberg is a hill, which rears up 126 metres above the Danube. It is famous for the Befreiungshalle (in English: Hall of Liberation) on top of the hill, whose building was ordered by King Ludwig I of Bavaria in commemoration of the the victories against Napoleon during the Wars of Liberation that lasted from 1813 to 1815.
The construction was already started in 1842, but not completed before 1863, because the architect Leo von Klentze had to alter the plans several times on the behest of the king. Today the Befreiungshalle on top of the Michelsberg attracts about 150,000 visitors each year and hence is a main centre of attraction in Lower Bavaria.