WWII Motorcycle and German Soldiers' Remains Found in Danube Near Hungarian Parliament

A grim discovery has been made in the Danube River in Budapest, where German specialists have found a World War II-era motorcycle and the skeletal remains of two German soldiers. The artifacts were revealed due to the unusually low water levels of the river.

“

The low level of the Danube has caused a World War II-era motorcycle to surface on the riverbank in Budapest. Subsequently, Gabor Kohlrusz, a specialist in the recovery and reburial of human remains at Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, exhumed two soldiers.

The discovery was announced by Volksbund, a non-profit organization tasked by the German government with locating, recovering, and properly reburying German soldiers who died in wars abroad. The motorcycle, believed to be a DKW NZ 350-1 model, was found on the Buda side of the Hungarian Parliament building, near Batthyány Square.

Specialists from Volksbund, including recovery expert Gabor Kohlrusz, exhumed the remains of the two soldiers. The discovery is significant because the soldiers' identification tags, preserved by mud and diesel fuel, were still legible. This suggests that their deaths were not officially recorded or communicated to their families, meaning they likely never received a formal notification.

“

The mud mixed with diesel fuel has very well preserved the identification tags of the two soldiers, so they are still legible. Both halves of the tags were found, which indicates that the soldiers' deaths were not reported to the German authorities and, consequently, their families never received official notification.

In addition to the motorcycle and remains, German anti-tank mines, a Kuban military decoration, and a fuel canister were also found. The two soldiers, whose remains have been recovered after more than 80 years, are scheduled to be buried in the Budaörs military cemetery near Budapest. Volksbund anticipates that the ongoing low water levels in the Danube may lead to further discoveries of war-era wreckage containing the remains of fallen soldiers.

“

Volksbund expects that the extremely low level of the Danube will also lead to the appearance of wrecks that could contain the remains of soldiers who died during the war.