Europe's record-breaking heatwave has uncovered a trove of historical artefacts, including a Nazi motorbike, mammoth bones, and long-forgotten gardens. The discoveries range from the riverbed of the Danube in Budapest to the lawns of stately homes in England.
Nazi Motorbike and Soldiers Found in Danube
A DKW NZ 350-1 Wehrmacht military motorcycle was found on the shore of the Danube river in Budapest, opposite the Hungarian Parliament building. This model was produced in Germany from 1944 to 1945, around the same time the Nazis invaded Hungary. The remains of two Wehrmacht soldiers were also retrieved by recovery specialists from the German War Graves Commission, exposed by the low waterbed. Both men still had unbroken double identification tags, indicating their deaths were never officially registered in Berlin. The remains will undergo a formal identification process before being given a military burial at the Budaörs German Soldiers Cemetery.
Additional Military Relics
A German military jerry can, almost perfectly preserved in the river mud and still mixed with petrol, was also discovered. Nearby, German TMi-35 anti-tank mines and grenade fragments were found and detonated by a bomb squad from the Hungarian Defence Forces.
Mammoth Bones in Bulgaria
Along the same river near Ryahovo, Bulgaria, scientists from Rousse's Regional History Museum examined remains of an ancient mammoth. A local resident spotted the bones on the exposed riverbed and alerted authorities. Both the left and right tusks of the animal were found together in the mud, which is highly unusual. The size and structure of the tusks confirmed they belonged to a young woolly mammoth. The tusks will undergo a specialist drying and chemical reinforcement process before being put on public display.
Professor Nikolay Nenov, director of the museum, said: "Scientists who surveyed the site in previous years believed there could be remains there. The area is now part of the Danube, but thousands of years ago it was probably a marsh."
Lost Gardens Revealed in England
In Derbyshire, exceptional low rainfall has revealed the outline of a 17th-century garden design on Chatsworth House's South Lawn. The Great Parterre, an ornamental arrangement of flower beds and paths, was created for the 1st Duke of Devonshire around 1699. It was covered over and replaced with a new design around 1730. The grass laid to replace the flowerbeds has shorter roots, which burn more quickly in dry conditions, temporarily revealing the swirling patterns of the original garden.
In Oxfordshire, hot, dry weather has exposed the outline of Blenheim Palace's 300-year-old garden. The original parterre was created in 1705 by royal gardener Henry Wise and stretched across the full width of the palace. The heatwave has uncovered parch marks highlighting the garden's outline, which was dismantled by Lancelot "Capability" Brown in the 1760s.
