Danube Art Master 2011: Winner's Trip to Budapest - Germany wins the competition with creative masterpiece

News & Media 22 September 2011

Bratislava, 13 September 2011. German children have won the „International Danube Art Master 2011“ competition, as the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) announced today.

Children's art

The International Danube Art Master is selected from the winners of the national 'Danube Art Master' competitions in 14 Danube Basin countries - Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Thousands of children from these 14 countries entered the competition.

The winning submission was created by 11 German schol children from class 5G of the Sonderpädagogisches Förderzentrum Neutraubling. Their artistic painting, entitled "Our Danube – a river as variously as we" is creatively made from colourful patterns and full of references to nature. It represents an appeal to "get active for the rivers", the official slogan of Danube Day 2011.

"This competition is a key element of the annual Danube Day celebration and transcends national borders, emphasizing the complexity of the Danube and its connections to land, animals, forests and people," said Philip Weller, Executive Secretary of the ICPDR.

Children were encouraged to visit local rivers and surrounding areas and to consider what the environment means to them. They were then asked to reflect their thoughts and inspirations through environmental art using materials from in and around the river.

The competition was jointly organized by the ICPDR in cooperation with the Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe (GWPCEE). The award ceremony in Budapest was attended by the national Danube Art Master winners and their accompanying persons. After the ceremony, the winners joined a three-day environmental programme, supported by Coca-Cola and organized by the Global Water Partnership Hungary, which included trips to the surroundings of Budapest and the Danube bend, Budapest Zoo and the Danube Museum. Since only two children per country are allowed to attend this trip, the winning team is represented by Selina Glas and Adrian Langner.