Danube name meaning "strong, swift" (akin to Sanskrit "iṣiras" "swift"). In Latin, the Danube was variously known as ' or as '. The Dacian/Thracian name was "Donaris" for the upper Danube and "Istros" for the lower Danube. The Thraco-Phrygian name was "Matoas", "the bringer of luck". The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, except Slovenian, (the name of the Rhine is also masculine in Latin, most of the Slavic languages, as well as in German). The German "Donau" (Early Modern German "Donaw, Tonaw", Middle High German "Tuonowe") is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the
Source of the Danube of the Danube." Source of the Danube The Danube is conventionally taken to be formed by the confluence of the two streams Brigach and Breg just east of Donaueschingen. Known as the source of the Danube ("Donauquelle") the source of the "Donaubach" in Donaueschingen itself. Hydrologically, the source of the Danube is the source of the Breg as the larger of the two formative streams, which rises near Furtwangen. There was an active rivalry between the municipalities of Furtwangen and Donaueschingen for the claim of being home to the "official" source of the Danube since the 1950s, sometimes with the