Drought-hit Europe’s longest river reveals its secrets as Nazi motorbikes and wooly mammoths appear in dried-up riverbed

AS EUROPE’S longest river runs dry amid a continent-wide drought, its arid bed reveals secret Nazi vehicles and prehistoric bones. Flowing through ten countries, the River Danube has served as a vital trade and wartime artery since the Roman Empire. A second world war German military motorcycle was uncovered in the shrinking waters in Budapest Credit: EPA Although rusted the bike has remained remarkably intact Credit: Reuters Now as waters wain, long-hidden pieces of history are finally being revealed. A remarkably well-preserved Nazi-era motorcycle was recently found after the water levels of the Danube sank to record lows, in Hungary‘s capital, Budapest. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The vehicle, which was spotted on the shores of the river opposite the country’s parliament building, was pulled out and cleaned up by military personnel. Despite it being rusted, the motorcycle had retained its form after decades under the water. A sunken Nazi warship from World War II protrudes from the waters between Romania and Serbia Credit: Reuters Remains of an ancient mammoth were discovered Credit: AFP It has since been put on display at the depot of the Institute and Museum of Military History in Budapest. Several Nazi-era warships were also found, some still laden with weapons. One was spotted in front a large dam on the river between Romania and Serbia. The battleship’s rusty hull now protrudes from the water with a broken mast still attached where the Nazi flag used to fly. Most read in The Sun Water levels have reached an all-time low on parts of the Danube Credit: Getty The wreckage of a WWII German warship emerged in the centre of the river Credit: AP The remains of an ancient woolly mammoth are also among the findings. Scientists were seen gathered around a large bone that was spotted in the banks of the river near the Bulgarian village of Ryahovo. So far they have identified a jaw bone, fragments of tusks, part of a shoulder blade and a femur with its articular head among the stash found at the end of July. The bones were remarkably well-preserved, with images appearing to show teeth still intact with the jaw bone. The ancient beasts co-existed with early humans, who hunted them for food and used their tusks and bones as tools. Another Nazi-ship was unearthed on the riverbed this time in Baja, Hungary. The sunken ships belonged to Nazi Germany’s Black Sea fleet that the Germans deliberately sank as they retreated from Romania and as Soviet forces advanced deeper into Europe near the end of the war. In Bulgaria’s Gigen, the foundations of the ancient Constantine Bridge, commissioned by Roman emperor Constantine I and inaugurated in 328 AD, were spotted as the water level reached record lows. While the delivering a plethora of staggering historical finds, the unprecedented water levels are having wide-reaching negative effects cross mainland Europe. Hungary was forced to switch off its only nuclear plant earlier this month as the water from the Danube that cools it could not reach the reactor. European power production, shipping and public health systems are hitting the brink. Governments across Central and Eastern Europe are taking steps to conserve electricity. But its not all doom and gloom, in Budapest the shrinking Danube has become a party hotpot with ravers gathering at the barren banks. A Saturday night pop-up party took place where spontaneous punters danced under the stretch of riverbed beneath the central pillar of Margaret Bridge. Comment now