Danube-Networkers
Childhood and Youth at the Danube
Text: Bärbel König
A talk with Heidemarie Stephan,Danube-Networkers group Ulm
This interview is about childhood and youth at the
river Danube. - Heide, could you introduce
yourself to our readers?
My name is Heidemarie Stephan, and I was born in Ulm on 17 January, 1941. At the time, my
parents were active members of the local kayaking club called "Ulmer Paddler,"
which meant I grew up at, and more or less on, the River Danube.
The topic of our interview is "Childhood and Youth at
the Danube." I am sure you can tell us a lot
about it. Can you start with your earliest memories?
Surely. Well, our small family spent their free time in foldable kayaks, the
kind that had elaborate wooden skeletons which you could slide into tarp hulls
with inflatable flanks. We possessed two singles and a double boat. And this
was why my parents wanted me to learn how to swim as early as possible and so
they took me to the public bath at the river. I cannot remember that our boats
ever capsized, however.
How did you feel about those activities?
The Danube was part of my life. I spent most
of my free time at and on the river. My school friends and neighbors hung
around at the river banks during the summer afternoons.
You were actively practicing water sports. Can you
tell me how it all started?
After I had started kayaking, we paddled to the railroad bridge and I learned
how to tackle waves and rapid waters. Experienced kayakers from the club as
well as other girls my age taught me the right maneuvers. There was also a
social aspect: we formed many friendships because water sport is a group sport.
It takes two to carry a boat to the water.
What was every-day life at the Danube
like?
I loved the activities in and on the water. And I got to know other rivers as
well: the Iller, the Blau, and the Great Lauter.
There were surely highlights...
Yes, of course. Later my fiancé and I went down the Danube all the way from Ulm to Vienna
with a tent and we saw all the sights and great scenery to the right and to the
left of the river. We also went down the gorges of the Ardèche in the south of France, a
breathtaking whitewater tour.
Were you able to combine your life at the Danube with schoolyou're your career?
There was always enough free time for me to spend on the water, even during my
vocational training.
Can you remember moments and events which changed your
activities and attitudes toward the river?
As a teenager I realized I needed glasses to scan the waters ahead of me. At
the time goggles looked horrid and I hated them. I remember losing my
corrective sun glasses, which were terribly expensive at the time. What was
worse, more and more dams were going up along the Danube
and paddling in water without a current was not a lot of fun. It also made the
waters of the Danube dirtier.
A number of traditional events have always
characterized life at the Danube - the
"Nabada" and "Fischerstechen," for example. Did you join the fun when you were
young?
Being water sports people, of course we took an active part in the annual
celebration of "Nabada" - a fun parade on the river with large floats poking
fun at current politics, large boats carrying celebrities and zillions of
ingenious floating devices and rubber boats. Being on the river was a lot more
fun than watching the spectacle from the river banks.
Which feelings and special experiences do you
associate with these events? Do you still celebrate? And what does the Danube mean to you today?
Today my childhood and youth with and at the Danube is still a cherished memory. The Danube
has become a part of what is home to me, and I regularly take part in all the
celebrations at and on the river. I also genuinely enjoy having a house with a
view over a part of the river. Soon I will be taking a river cruise starting
from the Bavarian town of Passau and going all
the way down to the Danube river delta at the Black Sea.
I am really looking forward to getting to know the Danube from Vienna on downstream.
