The Danube-World of Engelhartszell consists of eight stations: A-H
A) Garden of senses: shows old varieties of wine, old fruit varieties, an herb garden and a stone labyrinth. A silent place to recover next to the Trappist monastery.
B) Water-adventure Mini-Danube: an interactive open air playing area, where the Danube is relived from source to outlet in six stations. At each station visitors learn about the Danube. It is an eco-pedagogical exhibition – so many schools come for a visit. The exhibition “the aliens are coming – new animal and plant species in our homeland” with a giant-aquarium is part of the Mini-Danube. It shows how non-domestic plants and animals spread and blend amongst our domestic species and displace them. Centerpiece is a giant aquarium, where Beluga, the giant of the Danube, and Sterlet, the smallest kind of sturgeons are being shown up close. While nowadays the Beluga does not exist in the upper Danube Valley anymore, the Sterlet has survived due to being a self-reproducing species. Visitors combine activity, entertainment and education. The area is accessible for people with disabilities.
We offer guided tours in German and English language. Especially guests from river cruising companies are impressed by the nature of the Danube valley. Our main goals are to make people aware of our natural resources, to protect life in and at the river Danube and to raise the visitor`s awareness for the reasonable use of water.
C) In the “Donau-Ateliers” local artists show their creative work.
D) On the “Donau-Platz” there is a turbine of the power-plant.
E) The “Donau-Spiel” is a children`s playground with swings, slides and a climbing pyramid.
F) In the exhibition “Danube-Stories” (Donau-Geschichten) models of old steam-ships can be seen, also an original ship-cabin and creative objects about the history of Engelhartszell made by children and artists. Here is an information point of “Natura 2000”: this network is the EU contribution to the “Emerald network” of Areas of Special Conservation Interest (ASCIs) set up under the Bern Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats. Natura 2000 is also a key contribution to the Program of Work of Protected Areas of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
G) The power plant Jochenstein belongs to Bavaria and Upper Austria. On the Austrian side there is a new exhibition about energy and water power (it opens May 2018).
H) On the German side there is the exhibition “Haus am Strom”
History
The history of our “Engelhartszeller Danube-World” is a growing story and has not ended yet. In the year 2000 Engelhartszell started with the first exhibition “Donau-Geschichten”. It tells the history of our town and what it means to live on a river and with a river. With the "Water Experience Mini-Danube", an eco-educational LEADER project the Danube-World grew. The Mini-Danube is designed accordingly to the criteria of sustainable environmental education. The experience of the element of water and the independent shaping of the river landscape are leitmotifs in the Mini-Danube. For this purpose, a variety of possibilities of free and independent exploration and experiments are offered at the stations. Six sections from the source to the mouth of the Danube provide insight and information about river dynamics, landscape and life on the water. Under the title "Joint Sustainable Environmental Education in the Danube Valley", Engelhartszell and the district of Passau have implemented an EU-funded project in the year 2016. This cross-border project includes sustainable environmental education on Natura 2000, biodiversity and climate change. It is intended to contribute to strengthening the common identity and to sustainably securing and further developing the high-quality, unique habitat "Danube" for future generations. Highlight of this project is our giant aquarium with Danube fish.
Mission
Our mission is to inform citizens and tourists about the importance of the river Danube and about the importance of water in general. It also includes sustainable environmental education on biodiversity, water pollution and climate change. We want to strengthen the common identity with our unique habitat “Danube” for future generations.
