Record-low water levels in the Danube are revealing remnants of Europe’s Second World War past,with dozens of sunken German warships emerging from parts of the river normally concealed beneath the water.
Along the Serbian-Romanian border,a broken hull has become visible on a sandbank in the middle of the river. Other vessels remain partly submerged,and some are still believed to contain weapons.
The ships belonged to Adolf Hitler’s Black Sea fleet and were deliberately sunk by the German military towards the end of the war in an attempt to slow the Soviet advance.
Historians say as many as 200 German warships were scuttled in September 1944. Nazi Germany surrendered the following year,in May 1945.
The wrecks have surfaced during previous droughts before disappearing again as the Danube rose. Serbia has attempted to remove some of the vessels,but many remain because of the explosives they carried.
The latest drought is uncovering more than ships.
In Budapest,Hungary,a German military motorcycle from the Second World War was recovered from the river.
In Slovakia,police recovered an unexploded British bomb weighing 1,543lb,or 700kg. Authorities placed it on a specially modified firefighter vehicle fitted with a sand bed before transporting it to a five-metre-deep pit for detonation.
Britain’s Royal Air Force mined the Danube in 1944 in an effort to disrupt enemy troops.
The discoveries are emerging as prolonged drought leaves the Danube increasingly difficult to navigate.
The river flows through 10 countries and is the second-longest in Europe. Low water levels have created hazardous conditions for navigation while also adding pressure to energy infrastructure,as several power plants depend on natural water supplies for cooling.
The Danube is not alone.
Major European rivers have fallen significantly below water levels typically recorded at this time of year as intense summer heat and prolonged drought continue across the continent.
Temperature records have also been broken in several countries in central and eastern Europe.
Slovakia,Austria and Hungary recorded new highs during the week. On Thursday,Slovakia’s hydrometeorological agency said a national temperature record of 42C had been reached in the village of Dolné Plachtince.
The extreme heat and drought conditions are being intensified by the human-caused climate crisis,which has also contributed to wildfires and water shortages across Europe.
Along the Danube,the consequences are unusually visible.
As the river retreats,it is exposing objects left beneath its surface for more than eight decades. Warships,weapons and military equipment that once disappeared into the river are returning to view as environmental conditions reshape the landscape above them.
The result is an unexpected collision between two eras: the military history buried beneath the Danube and the extreme conditions now lowering the waters that concealed it.
