Donau

Danube river

Second largest river in Europe

The river Danube originates in the Black Forest in Germany. With a length of 2,780 km it is the second largest river in Germany. Its catchment area covers 800,000 km2 which makes the Danube river basin the second largest in Central Europe. The Danube is the most important waterway linking Central to South-eastern Europe.

The sampling area covers the German section of the Danube on a length of 586 km and includes its catchment area of approximately 56,000 km2, which is the third largest in Germany.

Other important features of the Danube are:

  • The Danube is a so-called cold-water river strongly influenced by its alpine tributaries. The large water masses of these tributaries result in an average discharge of the Danube which is twice as big as that of the river Elbe.
  • To enable intensive shipping, the hydromorphology of the river was strongly modified, e.g. by numerous barrages and straightening of long river sections. Compared to the 19th century, the area of the flood plains has been reduced by 80% and only about half of the river is still in a near-natural state.
  • The Danube is an important source of drinking water for about 10 million people.
  • Five riparian states of the Danube obtain significant portions of their energy from hydroelectric power plants on the Danube, namely Germany, Austria, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Serbia, and Romania.
  • The Danube is the only river system in Germany that drains into the Black Sea instead of the North or Baltic Sea.
  • Compared to other German rivers the Danube differs in its fauna due to the immigration of many Pontic-Caspian species.
  • This may result in different competitive conditions and food sources for bream and zebra mussels in the Danube compared to the sampling areas in the Rhine and Elbe.

Sub-areas

Specimen

Analytes

Sampling period

2002 - 2023

Search data