Release date is 2026-04-17

Richard Illner and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images made available by The Austrian National Library)

"Descent of the Danube, from Ratisbon to Vienna, during the autumn of 1827." by J. R. Planché is a travelogue and historical guide written in the early 19th century. It traces a boat journey from Regensburg to Vienna, blending vivid river scenery with architectural notes, local customs, and abundant historical and legendary anecdotes tied to the towns, castles, and monasteries along the banks. The tone is lively, erudite, and companionable, aimed at travelers who want picturesque description anchored by sources and stories.

The opening of the work sets out the author’s aim to supply English readers with a proper guide to the Danube—long overshadowed by the Rhine—drawing on, yet critiquing, Schultes’s German handbook. In Ratisbon he hires a private Weitz-zille rather than the crowded passage-boat, describes the river craft and the superstitions of the towing Jodelen, then tours the city’s cathedral, bridges, Rath-haus, and St. Emmeram, enlivening them with legends and a medieval murder plot averted by loyal sacrifice. Embarking, he threads village after village, recounts the turbulent histories of Donaustauf and Wörth, observes the prosperous “dark-earth” peasants, and notes the Sossau miracle tale. At Straubing he sketches the town’s past and lingers on the tragic drowning of Agnes Bernauer. Through the night he points out monasteries and crags—Ober and Nieder Altaich, Bogenberg, Metten, the solitary Natternberg—juxtaposing folklore with harsher facts such as Deggendorf’s anti-Jewish “Gnade-zeit” and the Isar raft traffic. After sunrise at Hildegartsberg and a plain breakfast in Vilshofen, he rides the small Sandbach rapid, praises Bavarian improvements and their enlightened kings, and closes this opening stretch with a picturesque approach to Passau, “the Coblentz of the Danube.” (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: London: James Duncan, 1828