Dürnstein

Dürnstein keeps its medieval walls and the blue tower of an Augustinian monastery founded in 1410 on the left bank of the Danube, at kilometre 2009.15; 819 people live in the town. The Danube water level at Dürnstein is read against a zero of 191.20 metres above the Adriatic. Low water is marked at 247 centimetres, high water at 611, the 2020 mean is 354, and a hundred-year flood would pass 1,123. Shipping stops only at 701, ninety above the highest navigable stage. On 25 October 2026, at 08:15, the gauge stood at 281 centimetres, thirty-four above low water.

A Valley With No Power Station

Between Melk and Krems the Wachau has no hydroelectric plant, so the gauge feels whatever the river brings; in 2000 the valley entered the UNESCO list. The local record is short — the series on the page begins on 22 October 2026 — which is why the long comparisons are made six kilometres upstream. Its four days already include a provisional maximum of 288 centimetres, on 23 October.

Ten Metres at Kienstock in June 2013

On 3 June 2013 the water at Kienstock passed ten metres, and the forecast spoke of 10.95, above the 2002 peak. In Dürnstein the houses at river level were flooded, the water supply failed and the road along the Danube closed; for several days the Wachaubahn was the valley's only connection. The peak came on 4 June, at 1,081 centimetres at Kienstock, twelve below 2002.

Six Kilometres That Explain the Number

At the Kienstock water gauge, six kilometres up, the same water read 120 centimetres that morning, forty-one below its own mark of 161 — a sign that the two gauges have different zeros and reach their marks differently; in 2018 Kienstock counted 54 days below low water. Downstream, 68 kilometres away, the Korneuburg river gauge gathers the water entering the Vienna plain, and at 141 kilometres the Bratislava gauge shows the Danube already in Slovakia.