At approximately 1,800 miles in length, the Danube is the longest river in the European Union and the second-longest river in Europe after Russia’s Volga. It begins in Germany’s Black Forest and flows through 10 countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine) with tributaries in seven countries. It empties into the Black Sea at the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine. In addition to navigation and transport, the Danube provides drinking water for about 10 million people.

Oddly enough, the river is not called “Danube” in any of the countries through which it runs. In German, it is the Donau; in Czech, the Dunaj; in Hungarian, the Duna and so forth. All these names derive from the Celtic word danu, which means “to flow” or “to run.”

One-third of the Danube’s total length is in Hungary; Hungary’s capital, Budapest, is often called “the Queen of the Danube.” The Danube is also a major artery in Austria, with ports at Linz and Vienna. It is quite a scenic river, featuring the Iron Gate, where the Danube flows through a gorge that forms part of the boundary between Serbia and Romania, and the picturesque Wachau wine valley near Melk, Austria.

The Danube has been immortalized in the famous waltz, The Blue Danube, composed by Austrian Johann Strauss as he traveled down the river. Another famous waltz about the Danube is The Waves of the Danube by Romanian composer Ion Ivanovici—a sensation at the 1889 Paris Exposition. The late jazz musician Joe Zawinul wrote a symphony called Stories of the Danube, first performed at Linz in 1993. There is a 500-year-old German landscape painting tradition called “the Danube school.”

Main-Danube Canal – Throughout history, mankind has tried to alter the course of Europe’s major rivers. Twelve hundred years ago, Charlemagne dreamed of connecting the Rhine, Main and Danube Rivers into one watercourse between the North Sea and Black Sea. In 1992, this dream was realized with the opening of the Main-Danube Canal. This 106-mile-long canal created a 2,200-mile-long waterway which passes through 15 countries and unites hundreds of inland ports.