The Donauinsel is a long, narrow island, in central Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, between the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 river and the parallel excavated channel Neue Donau ("New Danube

New Danube

The New Danube is a side channel on the eastern side of the Danube in Vienna, Austria. It was created to provide flood relief by containing excess water. The Donauinsel , made out of the removed material, separates the new waterway from the main channel of the river...

"). The island is 21.1 km (13.1 mi) in length, but is only 70–210 metres (230–690 ft) broad. The New Danube waterway is practically an elongated (swimming) lake, technically a diluvian bed.

Recreation and festival venue

To most visitors, the island is known as a recreational area with bars, restaurants and nightclubs. It has sports opportunities from rollerblading

Roller skating

Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...

, cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

 and swimming to canoeing

Canoeing

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

. There is one beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 that, in its beginning, felt so exotic that it was soon nicknamed the "Copa Cagrana" as a humoristic allusion to Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

's Copacabana: Kagran is the part of the 22nd District of Vienna next to that beach. In the southern and northern parts of the island, there are extensive (and free) nude beach

Nude beach

A nude beach is a beach where users are legally at liberty to be nude. Sometimes the terms clothing-optional beach or free beach are used. Nude bathing is one of the most common forms of nudity in public. As beaches are usually on public lands, any member of the public is entitled to use the...

es.

The Donauinselfest

Donauinselfest

The Donauinselfest is an annual open-air free music festival happening on Vienna, Austria's Donauinsel. It usually happens in mid-June...

 is an internationally well-known annual open air festival, and Europe's biggest event of this kind, expected to soon hit the 3-million-visitors mark. It takes place at the end of June (Friday through Sunday) – except for 2008 (September 5th–7th), due to Austria (and Switzerland) hosting the European Football Championship

UEFA European Football Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

. On September 23, 2008, Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

 gave her first concert in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 there in front of an impressive crowd of 57,000.

Reliable flood protection

The main purpose of the island however is to be part of Vienna's highly sophisticated flood protection system. As the mighty river Danube crosses the city (before major extensions: passed nearby), this has constantly been a concern for hundreds of years. The first notable measures were taken between 1870 and 1875. A central bed, 280 m, was dug out, and an inundation area of 450 m was created at the river's left bank.

In 1970, a new plan was conceived and soon executed: digging an additional channel to replace the former inundation area, and using the spoil to build up the remaining strip of land between the straightened bed from the 19th century flood defence schemes and the newly created one. The new channel is called the Neue Donau (New Danube). After the completion of the works it was envisaged that the resulting island should eventually be used for recreation. The flood control system is designed to protect from flash floods bringing river flows of up to 14,000 m³ per second. This has only happened once in Vienna's history in 1501; the heavy 2002 flood brought flows of 10,000 m³ per second. It includes the Danube Canal

Donaukanal

The Donaukanal is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel , within the city of Vienna, Austria...

's historic Nußdorf

Nußdorf, Vienna

Nußdorf was a separate municipality until 1892 and is today a suburb of Vienna in the 19th district of Döbling.- Location :Nußdorf lies on both banks of the Nußbach , where the brook meets the Danube Canal...

 watergate, locks at either end of New Danube, a groundwater level control system integrated into the right bank flood levee (which creates appropriate conditions for the large park area Prater

Prater

The Wiener Prater is a large public park in Vienna's 2nd district . The amusement park, often simply called "Prater", stands in one corner of the Wiener Prater and includes the .-Name:...

, once part of a wide alluvial forest zone), and the new Freudenau river plant's sluice.

The works were started in March 1972
and finished in 1988.
The river plant was added from 1992 to 1998.

Maps

• Vienna map showing Danube Island (English): 2008, webpage:MapAustria-Vienna.
• Simple Interactive Vienna tourist map linked to a short English descriptions of Danube Island and other Vienna tourist spots.
• Better Map of the island, by Vienna magistrate; it consists of 8 GIFs, c.100k each.