The southern tip of the Égető Island

IN HUNGARIAN

A pile of wood, some planks, a cyclist on a beach, a boat and the Naszály mountain in the background are the backdrop to the Égető Island in 1941 I stumbled across on Fortepan. The island is still an island here, and anyone cycling by today would not recognise the landscape, if only because the southern tip of the island, which is visible in the picture, is no longer there, if it is still an island tip at all.

Égető Island, 1941 (Fortepan 128884)

In the southern part of Vác, next to the cycle path along the Danube, you will find the Égető Island, a quite unknown Danubian island. A similarly old but undated picture of the northern tip of the island has also came to light, which differs from the southern tip in that it is still in roughly the same place. In 1941, the narrow island consisted of just one row of trees, and the keenest eye could tell you exactly how many there were. 

Anyone looking for the island's contours is in for a rough ride these days. The Égető Island gradually merged with the coast, and walking along the main branch you can easily pass the inconspicuous north and south inlets. The oxbow is narrowed, with standing water for most of the year and drying up completely during low water periods. 

The development of the Égető-sziget: (Blue line: Old Danube riverbeds, yellow line:  flood-free zone, red line: current shoreline)

 The southern tip of the island, visible in the initial image, is now hidden in the interior of the island. Today, when the water still flows in the oxbow (mostly during floods), it flows back into the main branch 300-350 meters to the south. The width of a single row of trees has also increased several times. There are no longer any beachgoers in this stretch, the floodplain forest and undergrowth has slowly pushed them away from the shore. The oxbow has become silted up, the level of the riverbed is higher today than it was three quarters of a century ago.

The oxbow of the Égető Island (on the left) in 2016.

The 1941 photograph captures a young Égető Island for posterity. It is as if we are seeing our grandparents smiling in their youth...

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)