Between the woods and the water - Rose-petal jam of Ada Kaleh

MAGYARUL

One of the most important parts of the journals of Patrick Leigh Fermor is describing Ada Kaleh between the two world war. This little island, drowned in the name of 'progress' comes alive once more. Turkish language fills the summer air with smell of coffee, they linger together on the narrows streets, we can hear the hodja's voice from the minaret stuck in the ground like a sprear, while the old river - the Danube gently embraces the fortress island. This ethereal view can only be observed through Fermor's lines.

After the bridge at Turnu Severin, the doctor travelled on to Craiova and I caught a bus back to Orsova, picked up my stuff, bought a ticket for the next day's boat, then walked a couple of miles downstream again and found a fisherman to scull me out to the little wooded island I had my eye on ever since rejoining the Danube.

I had heard much talk of Ada Kaleh in recent weeks, and read all I could find. The name means 'island fortress' in Turkish. It was about a mile long, shaped like a shuttle, bending slightly with the curve of the current and lying a little closer to the Carpathian than the Balkan shore. It has been called Erythia, Rushafa and then Continusa, and, according to Apollonius Rhodius, the Argonauts dropped anchor here on their way back from Colchis. How did Jason steer the Argo through the Iron Gates? And the the Kazan? Medea probably lifted the vessel clear of the spikes of magic. Some say Argo reached the Adriatic by overland portage, others that she crossed it and continued up to the Po, mysteriously ending in North Africa. Writers have tentatively suggested that the first wild olive to be planted in Attica might have come from here. But it was later history that had invested the little island with fame.

Between the woods and the water - Ada Kaleh, the drowned island

 IN HUNGARIAN

It has been 40 years ago the Romanian authorities flooded dozen Danubian villages upstream the Iron Gate gorge in the name of „progress”. Patrick Leigh Fermor returned here once more, and devoted the epilogue of his book ’Between the woods and the water’ to this appalling devastation. Ada Kaleh, this little island with the Turkish inhabitants were forced to move to Simian Island downstream the hydroelectric station. Thier mosque has also been moved with the old fortress, but just like the old trees, their community did not survive. They disappeared in every corner of the world. Everything has fled.

Thoughts at a Café Table Between the Kazan and the Iron Gates

Progress has now placed the whole of this landscape underwater. A traveller sitting at my old table on the quay at Orsova would have to peer at the scenery through a thick brass-hinged disc of glass; this would frame a prospect of murk and slime, for he would be shod in lead and peering out of a diver’s helmet linked by a hundred feet of breathing-tube to a boat stationed eighteen fathoms above his head. Moving a couple of miles downstream, he would fumble his way on to the waterlogged island and among the drowned Turkish houses; or, upstream, flounder among the weeds and rubble choking Count Széchenyi’s road and peer across the dark gulf at the vestiges of Trajan on the other side; and all round him, above and below, th dark abyss would yawn and the narrows where currents once rushed and cataracts shuddered from bank to bank and echoes zigzagged along the vertiginous clefts would be sunk in diluvian silence. Then perhaps, a faltering sunbeam might show the foundered wreck of a village; then another, and yet another, all swallowed in mud.

He could toil many days up these cheerless soundings, for Rumania and Yugoslavia have built one of the world’s biggest ferro-concrete dams and hydro-electric power plants across the Iron Gates. This has turned a hundred and thirty miles of the Danube into a vast pond which has swollen and blurred the course of the river beyond recognition. It has abolished canyons, turned beetling crags into mild hills and ascended the beautiful Cerna valley almost to the Baths of Hercules. many thousands of the inhabitants of Orsova and the riparian hamlets had to be uprooted and transplanted elsewhere. The islanders of Ada Kaleh have been moved to another islet downstream and their old home has vanished under the still surface as though it had never been. let us hope that the power generated by the dam has spread well-being on either bank and lit up Rumanian and Yugoslav towns brighter than ever because, in everything but economics, the damage is irreparable. Perhaps, with time and fading memories, people will forget the extent of their loss.

Simian, the "new Ada Kaleh" island

Wild Szigetköz

MAGYARUL

One of the most beautiful nature film of Hungary was introduced two years ago by Zoltán Török. Wild hungary is also available in English language, and there was a teaser of it on the Donauinseln blog. The co-director and cameraman of Wild Hungary, Szabolcs Mosonyi now made his own nature film about one of Europe's largest Danubian floodplain area, the Szigetköz. This alluvium is situated in northwestern Hungary, near the Slovakian border. This film has mostly plants and animals as main characters, but humans and their effect to the enviroment could not have been ignored. The director also captured the effect of the changes in the environment of the last two decades which was caused by the Gabcíkovo hydroelectric dam. I hope you will like Wild Szigetköz as you liked Wild Hungary before. Do enjoy these two trailers, hopefully they will be narrated in English or other languages soon. The premier will take place at Uránia cinema in Budapest on the 3rd of October 7 p. m.

Good news, Zoltán Török has started the second part of Wild Hungary!

Information on the Wild Szigetköz (Hungarian language only) on facebook and Szabolcs Mosonyi's webpage.
 

Danubian mayfly swarming, 2013

MAGYARUL

Last year finally the media also noticed blooming is not only the privilege of the Tisza river, the Ephoron virgo may-flies started to swarm on the banks of the Danube. Some may thought this was only an unique and unrepeatable event. They were not right. Despite the record flood this June we will not miss the little may-flies this year. Good news: the Danube will bloom this year as well.

We have already received pictures and description from Tahitótfalu and Budapest, but we expect more from our readers. It is worthy to take your camera with you when taking a walk next to the Danube!
 

 

A day with the 3rd Joint Danube Survey

MAGYARUL

I got the opportunity to join the 3rd Joint Danube Survey (JDS3) for one day almost in the last minute from Béla Csányi, leader of the core team. This was going to be a freat chance to experience altt the samplong and preparation that is going on board of the two ships, Istros and Argus. The expedtition took off from Regensburg, Germany twoo weeks ago, and after an unscheduled stop at Göd (two of the hungarian members are from this town) we were taken to the ships at seven in the morning. The destination was the Deák Ferenc bridge downstream Budapest, which was the 22nd sampling site out of the total 68. 
 

Macedonia's way to the Danube

MAGYARUL

Macedonia (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) received an observer status in the Danube Commission (DC) in December 2013 on the commissions’ 79. session. The DC was formed in 1948, Beograd and their aim is to help river navigation. Until 1998 only those countries were members which had direct access to the river. Although Macedonia’s membership is less surprising than France, or Cyprus, but it still needs to be explained. Instead of analyzing the economic benefits of the status let us find the geographical link between Macedonia and the Danube.

The relief of Macedonia

  

Community gardening by the Danube

MAGYARUL 

Urban guerilla gardening? New kind of street art? Community gardening which uses every free square inch? Or maybe a civil movement to draw attention to the decaying Budapest embankments? Who planted vegetables under the Elizabeth bridge?

Life on the floodplains of Kismaros

MAGYARUL

I did not know about this workshop in Kismaros, until Szilveszter Aradi sent me an e-mail that they had finished with this nature film. The Mátyásfa Environment Protection Association together with the Kisduna Newspaper made a 20 minute long film on the nature and species of the Kismaros floodpalins. The shooting started in February and lasted until May, so they have captured aspects of three seasons. I am quite happy about mentioning my name in this film, because the creators used some of my maps and aerial photographs previously published on the blog. It may help the audience knowing their way around.

1956 - War against the Danube

 MAGYARUL

 
The Hungarian People’s Army takes the main role in this half propaganda documentary film made in 1956 about the last ice flood in Hungary. The main characters are not the tommies filling sandbags on the levee, but real weapons. In this case “fighting the flood” means literally fighting. A bomb squad is laying mines on the ice beneath the Kossuth Bridge in Budapest, mortar men near the Yugoslavian border are bombing the accumulated ice shield. And since this is far from enough, also bombers of the Hungarian air force attacks the frozen river. This is like a mimic warfare in the Cold War era with real causalities. They say the lock near Tass was not damaged by the ice, but more likely it was destroyed by bombs.

  

Rare pictures of the great Danube flood in year 2002

MAGYARUL  

In connection with the recent Danubian flood articles often mention the record-breaking 2002. August flood. Indeed that was also a great flood, but later, in 2006 it was followed by an even greater flood in the Danube-bend, Hungary. But how high was the water in 2002? Standing on the riverside it is hard to imagine the size of the flooded area. When the Danube fills its riverbed, a human eye can tell which is the bank and which is the river. When flooding – except for towns and cities – riverside lost its meaning, the sharp boundaries between water and solid ground fades away on meadows and riverine forests. In these cases flying over the river makes easier to understand the extent of the flooded area.

Lines of trees outline the old island cores on The Szentendrei Island

430 meters

MAGYARUL

430 meters. An adult walks this distance in about 3-4 minutes. The world record for 400 meters flat race is 43 seconds. Such wide is the Danube at Budapest, between Kossuth tér and Batthyány tér. Actually, this is not a great distance. Such long Danube bank was given to the Republic of Moldova, out of the rivers total 2840 kilometers. 0,015 %. What can they do with such short riverbank? 
 

 

Pamätné tabule ľadovej povodne z roku 1838 v meste Ostrihom

MAGYARUL 

Históriu spúšte ľadovej povodne poznáme najmä z udalostí v Budapešti. Barón Miklóš Wesselényi a gróf Széchenyi István v svojich pamätiach opísali udalosti takmer z minúty na minútu. Ako nastalo nakopenie ľadu, ako sa pretrhli hrádze, ako zaliala voda ulice. Preto sa často stáva, že túto povodeň nazývame Budapeštianska. Táto povodeň ale narobila škody po celej dĺžke Dunaja, od Nyergesújfalu až po Moháč. Medzi prvými zatopenými mestami bolo aj mesto Ostrihom. Ako pamätné memento ostali po celom meste v kameni zamrznuté ruky na mramorových tabuliach, ktoré ukazujú dátum a hladinu vody pri tejto udalosti. Vydajme sa spolu vypátrať, aký bol v tom čase skutočný stav Dunaja v tomto kráľovskom meste.

  

Largest flood on the Danube?

MAGYARUL

Today, Sunday, 2nd of June 2013. the gauging station at Passau showed 1085 cm, a higher value than the 2002 flood, but still lower than the 1954 flood (1220 cm). According to the rising trend of the Passau gauging station we are sure that there will be a new record soon. The German Bundeswehr took control of the flood defence in the city, the major declared a state of emergency. In May, the precipitation was 178% of the long-term average rainfall, and the flood alert service forecasts heavy rains for the next days. Preparation is advised for countries along the lower section of the Danube.

 

Passau, Schaubling tower at flood and average water (source: commons.wikipedia)

Fish in the tower – The sunken fort of Drencova

IN HUNGARIAN

We already brought on the sunken Ada kaleh Island as a painful memento of the Iron Gate I. Hydroelectric Power Station, installed exactly 40 years ago. This small Turkish Island is the most renown victim of the 33 meter water level rise. Apart from this island, there were many other islands, castles, ruins, towns, roads which disappeared in 1972. This entry is about a small fort, soon to be disappear. East of the village Berzasca, Romania at the small ship-station of Drencova there is a stream called Suva Recka (Dry stream in Serbian). Here we find the ruins of Fort Drencova.
 

Lussonium

 

The ancient Roman castrum of Lussonium is situated on a long hill over the Danube in Dunakömlőd, Tolna county, Hungary. While watching this animated film on the reconstruction of the old fort, we may recall, that the Roman Danubian Ripa (common: Limes Romanus) is possible to be a next UNESCO World Heritage site. This tender will not be submitted on national level, like Pannonhalma, but will join all the Danubian countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria, from the source to the delta. The reason, we are interested in this matter, is the changes of the river course happened in the last 1600 years. Roman defensive structures, made by one will, at the same time draws the Danube’s course in the ancient times. Many of the watchtowers, legionary camps were partly washed away by floods, sunken in the river bed. By their locations we may conclude the places of old fords, water level and running of the ancient river banks.

Tunnel under the Danube between Nagymaros and Visegrád

IN HUNGARIAN

There are many legends in the Hungarian folklore about tunnels under the Danube. Where once a Roman watchtower, a medieval castle, or any kind of bigger ruin stood on the banks of the Danube we can be sure that the locals have the knowledge about a mysterious tunnel leadning to the other side. Most of these tales are just fantasies, in any era it was much cheaper to row, than to dig. I know about only one tunnel under the Danube that exists. And fortunately its owner, The Danube Regional Waterworks Co. opens this tunnel for the public once a year. After short organizing twenty-three of us started our 550 meter (600 yards) journey. 

  

It is always a great experience to cross the Danube on dry feet. Between Visegrád and Nagymaros this opportunity existed only once, when Emperor Franz Joseph personally lead a combat training exercise, which had a part to construct a pontoon bridge across the river.

The mysterious disappearance of the Great War Island in 1941

IN HUNGARIAN

It happened on the same day, when German battleship, Bismarck sunk Hood, the pride of the British fleet at coasts of Greenland. On May 24th, 1941, the Royal Hungarian 1./3. TF flying squadron conducted aerial photography over the recently occupied Serbian capital, Beograd. With these pictures the Hungarian High Command wanted to refresh the outdated sections of the Third Military Survey (made before 1914.) The photographed area overstreched the current borders of Hungary, they flew over Serbia, western Romania and Southern Transylvania. It was very likely that these countries were forgotten to inform about this action.

This is how the Serbian capital looked like from a bird’s eye view on may 24th, 1941. According to the shadows on this picture we can tell that the photos was taken early in the morning, from which the cartographers later joined this 6065/3 section. We still see traces of war, even from this height. The middle of the railway bridge, overarching the Danube towards the Banat is missing. The bridge I. Alexander leading to Zemun is also disappeared, probably sunken in the Sava river.

Fig. 1. Section 6065/3 Beograd. Archives of the Hungarian Military Museum

Like wax on a dead island's face - last drawings of Ada Kaleh

In summers of 1964, 1965 and 1967 the Romanian island, Ada Kaleh was swarmed by students. They arrived from the Ion Micu University, Bucharest and their task was to make an achitectural survey of the area which will be flooded by buliding the Iron Gate hydroelectic power plant. Their aim was to document the monuments to be demolished, and to make plans for those buildings to be reconstruct later. It was like pouring wax on a dead island's face. The drawings remained in a hand-written, photocopied folder. With these artworks we can look inside the last days of this disappeared island. When these students put down their pencils, the deconstruction took place immediately. 

  

Sea of flowers in the Danube bend

Spring has come late and gone early this year. At first signs of good weather increasing number of cyclists started to run over the Danube bend. Since the bike path was finished between Szob and Budapest every year more and more townspeople are itching to go to the nature with their bikes. Fortunately or unfortunately many of them are not stopping to admire the subtle beauty of nature. This way the flowers are not being tread on, and the wild animals are not disturbed. That’s why I was insecure and stalled to write this post for two years now. After the bike path leaves Kismaros, from the left a beautiful but hidden meadow stretches towards the Danube. This is the Duna Rét-Island, a colorful sea of flowers.

Tall buttercup, meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris)

Farewell, little island!

IN HUNGARIAN

The other day, someone shared this short animated film on the Danube Islands facebook page. I watched it immediately, and in the subsequent absolute silence I told myself that others must see this! Ada Kaleh, the small Turkish Danubian island found its watery grave 40 years ago, when the Iron Gate dam was built between Romania and Serbia.

The director, Sándor Reisenbüchler not only commemorates the loss of Ada Kaleh (Fortress Island in Turkish language). There were other “riverside developments” in years 1986/1987. We may recall the story of the small Transylvanian village, Bözödújfalu (Bezidou Nou). The communist regime in Romania decided to build a reservoir in its valley. They begin to relocate the Hungarian villagers in 1985. Clothes, patterns, houses and the people appearing in the animated film are a clear reference what has happened in Bözödújfalu. The church tower emerging from a lake is a symbol of this devastation.
But there is another meaning of this film. In those years the Czechoslovakian government has just began to construct another dam on the Danube at Bős (Gabcíkovo). There is a feeling, that once happened in the Iron Gates can happen again, now in the Szigetköz (Hungarian-Slovakian border) and in the Danube Bend. The Islands of Zebegény, Helemba, Fogarasi and Törpe could also disappear. Fortunately emerging waves of protest caused this plan partly abandoned when the communist regimes were collapsed in Central Europe. Perhaps because they also watched Farewell, little island then!

This film is not for the faint-hearted!

Thanks for the link, Pál Szabó! And thanks for sharing!