The Danube - the Principal River of Europe

"It is not by chance that a whole pleiad of poets have dedicated their verses to the Danube. Poets, through their spiritual and clairvoyant energy, were the first to discover the versatility of this "river from Paradise", as old Serbian chronicles mention it together with the Euphrates, Tigris and the Nile." - by Dejan Medaković

I once wrote that the rich literature about the Danube explains many issues connected to this important river. On the basis of various chronicles, it is easy to deduce a basic message: the Danube is the principal river of Europe and has for centuries served as a main thoroughfare and bears witness to the first steps of our civilization.

Lined along the Danube are many testimonies of the highest European achievements. Many values that have marked the European spirit, all characteristics of this area, appear not as narrow property witnessing somebody’s spiritual dominance but an entirety that radiates its undisturbed unity. This is the idea behind the book "The Danube – a River of European Unity" (Novi Sad, 2002) that should be read as a history of the area whose parts preserved their meaning only by being part of one whole. It is as if each part of this history is permanently tied to another, and only their full unity sharpens the picture one sees.

Ballad of Sremski Karlovci ONLY THE GREAT RIVER HAS EMBROIDERED THE BANDAGE FOR WOUNDS TO WASH AWAY A MYRIAD OF WANDERINGS AND RETURN THE FLED YAWLS THE SPARSE BRANCHES ARE UNBRAIDED ONLY IN BLACK LOCUST GROVES THAT PROVIDED A ROOF FOR DISEMBARKED FAIRYTALES. (D. Medakovi', an excerpt from "BALLADS ABOUT SREMSKI KARLOVCI")

My wish in this book was to promote the Danube as a symbol of the highest values of the European spirit. This idea implies that I had to establish in the Danube’s flow the history of the banks that line the river. This has not often been attempted in literature about the Danube. It escapes the usual conventions, even prejudices, that incite antagonism between peoples living in this area. In other words, the Danube itself offers to all peoples of Europe a serious opportunity to recognize themselves, and then to reject many, stubbornly defended errors. It directs us to return to the great sources of our common European ties, a unique shelter in the spiritual confusion of the modern world. If this happens, there is no reason for disbelief and confusion. One should believe in the healing strength of a river that has deserved our genuine love since time immemorial. It is not by chance that a whole pleiad of poets have dedicated their verses to the Danube. Poets, through their spiritual and clairvoyant strength, were the first to discover this "river of Paradise", as ancient Serbian chronicle writers called it, together with the Euphrates, the Tigris and the Nile. The Danube has been the most loyal guardian of its own history, which has recorded without omission everything that determined human destiny and, above all, holds the moral that suffering and agonies can be transformed into their opposites.

Now is the time to create a new guide for the Danube that comprises a different navigation through space and time. It is a spiritual journey that will help to inseminate a new sense of understanding and ennoble us with a common European presence, the common presence of Europe along the river’s flow. To thus navigate, magnificent edifices and centuries-old fortification systems are not decisive, nor are centuries-old cities. The prerequisite to make this journey successful is a passenger who returns with a changed attitude and lessons about the harmonious co-habitation of neighbors. There is no doubt the Danube should be loved as the principal river of European unity. Only joint care in preserving this river can help ensure that the arrogance, presumptuousness and impudent looting of its power doesn’t turn it into Europe’s polluted canal. If this happens, an entire world, a great gift of nature, would irrevocably vanish. This would be an act that equals a voluntary agreement for our own destruction.

Stift Melk* IS IT SPITE OR A MIRACLE HAS BEAUTY INTENDED TO STOP THE RIVER AND IT, WISE AS A SNAKE DECLINES COLLISION IN A LOVE CURVE SURRENDERS THE ROCK TO RULE OF MAN DELAYS HUMBLY TIME OF SETTLEMENT ACKNOWLEDGES DEFEAT AND PERHAPS FOR THAT BURROWS EVEN MORE FIERCELY THE REEF OF BELGRADE.   D. Medaković, from his collection "EVEN MORE MIRACULOUS IS A MIRACLE", Novi Sad, 2000 * The Benedictine Abbey on the Danube, Austria, on the road from Viena to Linz

I believe that today’s generation will contribute to preserving the untarnished splendour of the Danube, whose past reveals and offers many reasons for new creative endeavours. All the cultural layers lined along the Danube’s riverbanks, from Schwarzwald to the confluence into the Black Sea, form a magnificent European composition whose individual patterns acquire their full importance only when taken as a complete picture of European culture.