Mystery unveiled: story behind Wehrmacht motorbike from the Danube

By Laura Fleischmann

Published on 08/08/2026 - 8:45 GMT+2•Updated 11/08/2026 - 11:10 GMT+2

The water in the Danube has never been this low. The low level is revealing what lay hidden on the riverbed for decades, among them a Wehrmacht motorcycle of the DKW NZ 350-1 type from the Second World War. DKW is the abbreviation of "Dampfkraftwagen", a former German car and motorcycle brand that originated in the Saxon motor city of Zschopau and was later taken over by Auto Union.

The motorcycle was found in the riverbed in the heart of Hungary's capital Budapest, level with the Hungarian parliament building. For staff at the local Institute and Museum of Military History it is a genuine once-in-a-century find. The vehicle is almost completely intact, according to the institute. It was preserved in the Danube's mud.

The motorcycle that was found is a model developed specifically for wartime use and produced from 1944 onwards. It had a single-cylinder two-stroke engine delivering 11.5 horsepower. Because of their robustness and reliability, these so-called Kräder were popular with the troops. The DKW 350-1 can easily be recognised by the metal pannier mounted on the side, which is also present on the bike recovered from the Danube.

Around 12,000 units were built by the end of the war in 1945. According to the ADAC, the predecessor model DKW (source in German) NZ 350 reached a top speed of 105 km/h. Within the Wehrmacht, motorcycles were mostly used as despatch, reconnaissance or courier machines. That meant delivering orders, reports or information material such as maps.

The motorcycle was built by Auto Union AG, a car and motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1932 which at the time was the second-largest maker after Opel. Auto Union AG was created through the merger of several brands, including Audi.

On the manufacturer's previous models the frame components were still bolted together. On the NZ series they were welded. Because this required a great deal of electricity, the work could only be carried out at night, when the power grid was not under strain from other users.

German Tellermine 35 anti-tank mines, fragments of hand grenades and artillery shells were also found on the bed of the Danube. This section of the Danube may have been used as a "war rubble dump", according to the Hungarian Institute of Military History.

From March 1944 German troops besieged Budapest. Between October 1944 and February 1945 the Battle of Budapest was fought between the Soviet Red Army and German and Hungarian forces. Around 30,000 German, more than 17,000 Hungarian and some 80,000 Soviet and Romanian soldiers were killed. On 13 February 1945 the remaining German units capitulated.

After the war, DKW's production facilities were dismantled and taken to the Soviet Union as part of reparations. Using this equipment, factories in Moscow and other locations produced the largely identical ISCH-350 in large numbers until 1951.

Human remains were lying beneath the motorcycle. The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge took charge of the recovery and says they are the mortal remains of two Wehrmacht soldiers. The crew of the motorcycle? Their identity discs are well preserved, so they can be identified. The two dead men are to be buried at the German war cemetery in Budaörs, west of Budapest, where more than 16,000 German soldiers are already interred.

The Volksbund is a non-profit association which, on behalf of the German federal government, locates, recovers and buries war dead abroad. In 2025 alone it dealt with more than 5,500.