{"id":5044,"date":"2019-10-31T06:11:37","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T05:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=5044"},"modified":"2026-01-01T17:19:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T16:19:01","slug":"is-the-danube-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/is-the-danube-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Danube blue?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/strausssmall.jpg\" alt=\"Head of Strauss\" class=\"wp-image-14320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/strausssmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/strausssmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>No. It&#8217;s not. OK, maybe sometimes. But the Blue Danube waltz at least remains a reliable constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Music composed in 1866 by Johann Strauss II<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Still immensely popular today<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Common feature of local concerts &amp; events<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Browse <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/concerts-opera-vienna-tickets-l206741\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_Strauss\" rel=\"sponsored\">concert experiences<\/a>* in Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/johann-strauss\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"21524\">Strauss locations<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/mapsgeography\/the-danube\/\">How to find the Danube in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Really not blue?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So, no, the river rarely assumes a lovely shade of azure. As this photo demonstrates:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/DanubeAtNussdorf.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/DanubeAtNussdorf.jpg\" alt=\"Danube at Nussdorf\" class=\"wp-image-41412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/DanubeAtNussdorf.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/DanubeAtNussdorf-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Distinctly non-cyan)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Danube can certainly be blue(ish). If it&#8217;s a sunny, cloudless day and the river is relatively placid. The more usual colour is a mundane grey or a little muddy when rain washes soil into the waters or a storm drives up the silt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question is, of course, legitimate, given the name of one of the most recognisable pieces of music in history: the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uZM5scZkm_Y\">Blue Danube<\/a> (the most famous part kicks in after around 1 minute and 40 seconds).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/johann-strauss\/\">Johann Strauss II<\/a> composed the waltz, though he didn&#8217;t give it the name we associate with the piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The German title was &#8220;An der sch\u00f6nen blauen Donau&#8221;, which translates literally as &#8220;On the beautiful blue Danube&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/donauinsel1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/donauinsel1.jpg\" alt=\"View from the Donauinsel across to the Vienna hills\" class=\"wp-image-62577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/donauinsel1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/donauinsel1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Possibly blue after all)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can even visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/strauss-apartment\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"21449\">very apartment<\/a> where Strauss wrote the work in 1866, when he lived in what is now Vienna&#8217;s second district (Leopoldstadt).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original version for choir and orchestra premiered to broad approval on February 17th, 1867, in the Dianabad public baths (which converted to a concert hall out of season).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>Die Debatte<\/em> paper described it as a &#8220;huge and deserved triumph&#8221;, while <em>Die Presse<\/em> noted prophetically (my translation):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>This lovely waltz with its fine mellifluous rhythms is sure to become one of the most popular of the seminal dance compositions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-content-type=\"product\" data-content-ids=\"1084652,1029872\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_Strauss\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:18px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The music remains deeply ingrained in Viennese life. Locals know it as the &#8220;Donauwalzer&#8221; or &#8220;Danube Waltz&#8221; (nothing blue about it at all), and it invariably forms the highlight of Vienna&#8217;s many balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the midnight chimes die away, the entire city (and Austria as a whole) also welcomes in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/new-years-eve\/\">New Year<\/a> by dancing to the Blue Danube. It&#8217;s an irreplaceable cornerstone of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/new-years-concert\/\">New Year&#8217;s concert<\/a> given by the Wiener Philharmoniker, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if you attend one of the many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/classical-concert\/\">Mozart and Strauss concerts<\/a> so popular with visitors, then you&#8217;re almost certain to hear the melody at some point. Particularly in &#8220;highlights&#8221; concerts by the likes of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/wiener-klassik-ensemble\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"85663\">Wiener Klassik Ensemble<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/johannstraussphoto.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Johann Strauss from 1870\" class=\"wp-image-58930\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/johannstraussphoto.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/johannstraussphoto-300x226.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The composer photographed by Xaver Massak in 1870; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 76966\/2; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Strauss&#8217;s name is indelibly linked with this particular piece, even though he composed hundreds of works of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another Strauss waltz you hear everywhere in Vienna, for example, is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dkzP5g-va84\">Kaiser Waltz<\/a> or Emperor Waltz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should you wish to pay homage to the <em>King of the Waltz<\/em>, then his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/strauss-monument\/\">golden statue<\/a> sits in the Stadtpark close to the centre of Vienna. And he&#8217;s buried in the city, too. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/johann-strauss-grave\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"5683\">Strauss&#8217;s grave<\/a> lies in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/zentralfriedhoffamousgraves\/\">Zentralfriedhof<\/a>, alongside those of Beethoven, Brahms, and other great composers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And for a longer list of Strauss locations, check <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/johann-strauss\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"21524\">my overview<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1xknJ5WvhSnFTHTgqWmdXMkwLmNbn1U5j\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No. It&#8217;s not. OK, maybe sometimes. But the Blue Danube waltz at least remains a reliable constant. Really not blue? So, no, the river rarely assumes a lovely shade of azure. As this photo demonstrates: (Distinctly non-cyan) The Danube can certainly be blue(ish). If it&#8217;s a sunny, cloudless day and the river is relatively placid. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5044"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87910,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044\/revisions\/87910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}