Low Danube Reveals Soldiers, Mines, and Mammoths
Record-low water levels of the Danube and Rhine in several European countries have brought to the surface remnants from World War II, prehistoric mammoth bones, and shipwrecks.
Record-low water levels of the Danube and Rhine in several European countries have brought to the surface remnants from World War II, prehistoric mammoth bones, and shipwrecks.
Extremely low water levels in the Danube and Rhine, caused by prolonged droughts and heatwaves, have revealed a series of unsettling and fascinating relics from the past across Europe. From the remains of soldiers and explosive devices to shipwrecks and prehistoric bones, the rivers have become unusual archaeological sites.
In the riverbed of the Danube in Budapest, the remains of two Wehrmacht soldiers were found, along with a motorcycle and two identification tags. Staff from the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, the organization responsible for maintaining German war graves, exhumed the bones. At the same site, a Tellermine 35 anti-tank mine was also discovered, prompting the intervention of the bomb disposal unit. The Volksbund warns that additional remains could be found in the shipwrecks now emerging from the rivers.
The low water level of the Danube in Bulgaria has brought a discovery from a much older past. A local resident of the village of Ryahovo found unusual bones on the riverbed, and the Regional Historical Museum in Ruse confirmed they are the lower jaw, two tusks, and a rib of a mammoth. Experts are now analyzing the find to determine the exact origin and age of these prehistoric remains, which have been transferred to the museum.
Near the river port of Prahovo in Serbia, the low water level has once again revealed the wrecks of the German navy from World War II. These are part of the former Nazi fleet that the Germans scuttled at the end of the war while fleeing the Soviet Danube military flotilla. It is estimated that around 200 vessels were sunk in that area, just before the Iron Gates gorge on the Serbia-Romania border, to make the Danube impassable for their pursuers.
In Slovakia, the low water level of the Danube on Monday revealed a World War II anti-ship mine near the settlement of Virt in the Komarno district, east of Bratislava. The waterway on that stretch of the river, along the border with Hungary, was temporarily closed to all traffic. On the other side of Europe, in the riverbed of the Rhine near the German city of Kleve, the wreck of the wooden cargo ship "De Hoop" from the late 19th century has appeared. The ship was destroyed in 1895 in an explosion during the transshipment of dynamite, killing 16 people.
