For thousands of years, Europe has been crossed by its most famous river which inspired numerous poets, composers and painters alike. This is the reason why Romfilatelia dedicates a first issue of postage stamps to the great river, in a series entitled “Danube´s Coats of Arms”.
“Among the famous rivers which are navigable when one comes from the sea there is also the Istros...”, Herodotus wrote in his well-known Histories. This is also the oldest description of the river. For many peoples, whether nomadic or permanent, it has always been the most used route for commercial and military transport.
On “Rio Divino”, as the Spanish called it, Phoenician and Greek vessels, Roman galleys, Byzantine caravels, as well as Venetian galleons used to pass. Later on, along with the Turkish ships, the corsairs´ ships appeared too. After having been the Northern border of the Roman Empire for a long time, the Danube became the access way into the empire for Goths, Slavs, Huns and Germanic tribes. Subsequently, the crusaders used it on their way to Constantinople and the Holy Land and back again, while the Ottomans used it to easily penetrate Europe.
The Danube, Europe´s second longest river and the only one flowing from West to East, originates in the Black Forest Mountains and, after a journey of more than 2800 km, flowing through the territories of ten countries, it ends its long trip into the Black Sea.
The Danube starts at Donaueschingen (Germany), where two small mountain rivers join together: Breg and Brigach. From here, the Danube flows to the towns of Ulm and Regensburg (North-East) and then turns to Passau (South-East), crossing over the first border to continue its way to Austria. It then flows through “the Country of Waltz”, by Linz and Vienna. After leaving behind the Austrian capital, the river comes through the “Devin Gate” on its way to Slovakia. Between Bratislava and Szob, the river is a natural border between Slovakia and Hungary. After having crossed the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld), the river reaches Budapest, flowing under the majestic and famous bridges, subsequently marking the Eastern border of Croatia.
Melk Abbey (Republic of Austria) is illustrated on the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 1.40.
Bratislava Castle (Slovak Republic) is illustrated on the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 2.40.
On the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 3.10, the Ilok Fortress (Republic of Croatia) is illustrated.
The Palace of the Parliament - Budapest (Republic of Hungary) is illustrated on the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 4.30.
Illustrated on the souvenir sheet of the issue with the face value of Lei 14.50 is a scene sculpted by Adolf Heer which describes “Mother Baar” together with the Young Danube and is part of the sculptural ensemble “Danube´s Spring” from the Fürstenberg Castle yard (Donaueschingen - Germany).
