Story perspectives

Low Danube Levels Halt Shipping, Reveal WWII Wrecks

8/8/2026

Summary

Hungarian Divers Recover

On 2 August, Hungarian divers recovered a DKW NZ 350-1 motorbike, WWII soldiers' remains and Tellermine 35 mines from the Danube.
Staff identified the bike, moved it to the Kerepesi Road hangar and logged an oil bottle and repair kit.
Exhumed Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers carried identity discs, showing the report never reached Berlin.
They will be buried at Budaörs cemetery after inspection by Parliamentary State Secretary László Kürtös and Colonel Roland Maruzs.

Summary

Serbia Lifts Wrecks

Serbia plans €23 million, with a €16 million EIB grant, to lift 21 WWII shipwrecks from the Danube.
The EIB estimates Prahovo navigation delays cost Serbia about €5 million in freight annually.
Divers first clear silt and check for unexploded ordnance, slowing the project.
Record-low Danube water has halted large ships, turning wrecks into a traffic barrier.
The low water forced Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant—supplying nearly 50 % of electricity—to shut down.

History

Historical Context

After Germany’s surrender in May 1945, Allied forces prioritized reopening key waterways. The U.S. Navy and Soviet Red Army’s Danube Mine-Clearance neutralised about 2,000 mines and salvaged 250 vessels, echoing earlier forced German de-mining in Denmark and Norway that removed thousands of mines and caused hundreds of casualties. These efforts restored trade and secured post-war transport.

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Hungarian Divers Recover

On 2 August, Hungarian divers recovered a DKW NZ 350-1 motorbike, WWII soldiers' remains and Tellermine 35 mines from the Danube.
Staff identified the bike, moved it to the Kerepesi Road hangar and logged an oil bottle and repair kit.
Exhumed Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers carried identity discs, showing the report never reached Berlin.
They will be buried at Budaörs cemetery after inspection by Parliamentary State Secretary László Kürtös and Colonel Roland Maruzs.

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