The Danube Gorge between Weltenburg Abbey and the Lower Bavarian town of Kelheim is one of the most popular destinations in Bavaria. Thousands of tourists and day visitors travel there in the summer months – especially on large and small passenger ships on the river, which squeezes through imposing rock formations here. The rush is now too much for environmentalists and fishermen. The State Association for the Protection of Birds (LBV), the Union for Nature Conservation (BN) and the State Fishing Association (LFV) have filed a lawsuit against shipping in the Weltenburger Enge. From their point of view, it is increasingly becoming a danger to nature there. “Nature conservation must have absolute priority in the Weltenburg narrows,” says LBV boss Norbert Schäffer.
Because the Weltenburger Enge is not just a tourist magnet. But one of the top-class natural treasures of Bavaria. Even King Ludwig I. recognized the special value of the region and put the primeval mixed beech forests there with the many rare animal and plant species under his protection. But the Danube here is also completely natural. It therefore contains a whole range of special fish species. The huchen, for example, which is called Danube salmon here and whose specimens can be over a meter long and weigh more than 25 kilos.
The Weltenburger Enge is also one of the most outstanding geotopes in the Free State and is protected under European law. And it is the only national natural monument in Bavaria and, after the two national parks Bavarian Forest and Berchtesgaden, the third region in Bavaria to be awarded the European Diploma by the Council of Europe.
The demands are fewer ships and a stricter speed limit
The Council of Europe is an association of 26 countries based in Strasbourg. He is primarily committed to respecting human rights, but is also dedicated to nature conservation. Like the nature conservation associations, the Council of Europe views the excessive tourism and shipping in the Weltenburg narrows with great skepticism. He is therefore calling for a whole series of restrictions for the latter, above all a reduction in the number of trips by large and small passenger ships and stricter speed limits. He also demands that the large passenger ships are only allowed to sail at certain minimum water levels. And only in a certain corridor in the river, so that the fish life, the mussels, snails and other small animals at its bottom are affected as little as possible. If the requirements are not met, there is a risk of the European diploma being withdrawn.
LBV, BN and LFV have long shared the Council of Europe’s demands. They accuse the Kelheim district office of massively neglecting nature conservation in the Weltenburger Enge. The district authority is responsible for shipping in the Weltenburger Enge. In their lawsuit, the nature conservation associations are targeting the new approval notice from the district authority for passenger shipping on the Danube this August. “The speeds permitted there and the number of trips put a considerable strain on the river and the bank areas,” says LBV boss Schäffer. As an example, he mentions that up to 2,950 passenger boat trips between Kelheim and Weltenburg Abbey should be possible per summer half-year. “That’s not compatible with a nature reserve of this quality.”