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Ports along the Danube

History, architecture, people

Current Events:

The port report by Hungarian architectural sociologist Máté Tamáska, published on 8 May 2025, is now available! In it, Tamáska conveys a current picture of the harbour in the Slovakian capital. At the same time, he looks back into the past and analyses its transformation process.

You can access the harbour reportage via the following link: Port Report from Bratislava :: danube-ports.com

A further report on the conference ‘Ports on the Danube: History, Architecture, People’, which took place on 5 and 6 November 2024 in Novi Sad, has now been published. In it, economist Richard Vahrenkamp provides an overview of the conference and summarises the key findings and theses on the Danube ports presented by the speakers.

Click here for the conference report: Ports on the Danube: History, Architecture, People

The 11th volume of the book series and research workshop TÉRformák - TÁRsadalom-formák - edited by architectural sociologist Máté Tamáska - was published in 2024 under the title Danube Ports from Vienna to Novi Sad. In four chapters, twelve studies outline the development of Danube shipping, the changing role and industrialisation of the river, port construction and port development in the 19th and 20th centuries as a decisive process in the dynamic transformation of Danube cities. The aim of the volume is to provide insights and questions for architectural sociology.

Go to review: Fókuszban a kikötők térformáló hatása. Tamáska Máté (szerk.): Dunai kikötők Bécstől Újvidékig | Debreceni Szemle

The Institute for Danube Swabian History and Regional Studies in Tübingen invited interested parties to the conference ‘Ports on the Danube. History, Architecture, People’. The conference took place from 5 to 6 November 2024 in Novi Sad and was held as part of the international project ‘Ports on the Danube: History, Architecture, People’ funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation. The conference focussed on the increasing importance of inland waterways, transport corridors and port areas for transport, trade and urban development. Historical and sociological perspectives on waterways as channels for the exchange of knowledge, people and goods were also examined.

Find out more here: Report on the workshop in Novi Sad

The book ‘Dunai kikötők - Bécstől Újvidékig’ by Martin Opitz Kiadó examines the historical development of the Danube harbour cities, especially Budapest, whose structure was shaped by quays and river ports. It shows the change from lively urban spaces to industrial harbour facilities that left the cityscape. Vienna, Mohács, Baja and Novi Sad are also highlighted. Finally, it looks at the fate of abandoned harbours and modern urban planning in the context of ecological challenges.

Find out more about the publication here: Könyv: Dunai kikötők

Impressions of the project

  • Lower reaches of the danube

    Lower reaches of the danube

  • Budapest around 1900

    Budapest around 1900

  • Participants of the meeting in Novi Sad on 5/6 november 2024

    Participants of the meeting in Novi Sad on 5/6 november 2024

  • Landing stage Baja

    Landing stage Baja

  • Meeting in Novi Sad on 5/6 november 2024

    Meeting in Novi Sad on 5/6 november 2024

  • Postcard Budapest

    Postcard Budapest

The project "Ports on the Danube: History, Architecture, People", funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, focuses on the port facilities of the modern era with the quays that have been built since the 19th century, which enabled the construction of larger buildings and infrastructure on the water. When looking at the Danube ports, several areas overlap: technical progress (and the associated development of mobility - keyword steamship), urban development and social history (migration). We assume that since the 19th century the Danube ports have had similar infrastructure, architecture, social milieus, networks and communication opportunities as well as diverse and sometimes alternative uses. These similarities and interdependencies have shaped and continue to shape the tangible and intangible cultural heritage along the Danube. However, there were also differences in development between the ports, which are to be explained in the sense of a critical questioning of their homologous and different structures. Thanks to the interdisciplinary approach of the project, these can be researched, interpreted, communicated and put up for public discussion.

 

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    A révhez futó utcák Dunaföldváron. MNL MOL S 78 - 232. téka (1859) / Straßen zu Übergangstelle

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    A hídfő Dunaföldváron.  Fortepan 91070, adományozó UVATERV (1955)

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    A Duna-Tisza összekötését megvalósító ferenc csatorna a 18. századi Magyar Királyság legnagyobb vízügyi beavatkozása volt. 

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    Ansichstkarte um 1900 

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    Aus dem Buch: Dr. Kertai Ede et all: Magyarország nagyobb vízépítési műtárgyai – folyami kikötők (1971)

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    Historische Darstellung einer Ulmer Schachtel 

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    Toter Zweig bei Tolna.

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    A csepeli kikötő és ipartelepek Gonda Béla (1896) féle látványterve. In: Kertai E. Magyarország nagyobb vízépítési műtárgyai.

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    Privatsammlung Zolt Lazar

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    Fortepan 82485, adományozó: Budapest Főváros Levéltára HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.07.161, Klösz György felvétele, 1900

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    Fortepan 82550, adományozó: Budapest Főváros Levéltára HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.08.025, Klösz György felvétele, 1900

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    Privatsammlung Zolt Lazar

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    Privatsammlung Zolt Lazar

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    Privatsammlung Zolt Lazar

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    Privatsammlung Zolt Lazar

Program points of the project