Thinking Citizen Blog — Danube
Thinking Citizen Blog — Wednesday is Climate Change, the Environment, and Sustainability Day
Today’s Topic: Great Rivers of the World VIII: the Danube — 1770 miles, 10 countries, lots of history
The Danube passes through four European capitals: Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, and Bratislava. You might have guessed that Prague and Bucharest are also along its banks. But they are not. Prague is on the Vitava and Bucharest the Dambovita. Did you know that the Danube is now connected to the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea? That it formed the northern border of two empires? That a song about it is the unofficial national anthem of Austria? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
FROM THE BLACK FOREST IN GERMANY TO THE BLACK SEA (1501 miles are navigable)
1. Formed the northern border of the Roman Empire from roughly 37 to 375 AD, and of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th century. Countless battles were fought along its length.
2. The Danube technically begins at the confluence of the Breg and Brigach rivers. The Breg is the primary headstream. (See below for details)
3. The Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, completed in 1992, connects the Danube to the Rhine and Main and thereby to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean!
COUNTRIES BY PERCENTAGE OF BASIN AREA
1. Romania 29%, Hungary 21.6%, Serbia 11%.
2. Austria 10%, Germany 7%, Bulgaria 5.9%.
3. Slovakia 5.9%, Croatia 4.4%, Ukraine 3.8%, Moldova 1.6%.
THE BLUE DANUBE WALTZ — if this doesn’t make you want to dance, well…
1. Unofficial Austrian national anthem.
2. Composed by Johann Strauss II in 1866.
3. Now one of the most beloved pieces in the classical repertoire.
NB: For the lyrics of the chorale version, see the last link below. The next to the last link is a piano version with score. The one before that is the most popular orchestral version. “Donau so blau, so schon und blau” (Danube so blue, so beautiful and blue….)
The Blue Danube Waltz (instrumental version):
Johann Strauss II — The Blue Danube Waltz
For piano with score
The Blue Danube — Johann Strauss, Piano
Lyrics
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to climate change or the environment.
Or the coolest, most important thing you learned in your life related to climate change that the rest of us may have missed. Your favorite chart or table perhaps…
This is your chance to make some one’s day. Or to cement in your own mind something that you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.