Source of the Danube
As early as 1847 the following definition can already be found in the "Universallexikon des Großherzogtums Baden" (Universal Lexicon of the Grand Duchy of Baden): “Danube, the biggest river of Germany, rises at the Martinskapelle in a wild and lonely area of the Black Forest, is called Brege at its origin and forms the river Danube in Donaueschingen where it is unified with the Brigach." (German original: „Donau, der größte Fluß Deutschlands, entspringt bei der Martinskapelle in einer wilden und einsamen Gegend des Schwarzwaldes, heißt am Anfang Brege… und bildet erst in Donaueschingen, wo sie sich mit der Brigach vereinigt, die Donau.“)
Source of the Danube
For centuries, the two cities Furtwangen and Donaueschingen competed for an official status which declares their own source as the official source of the Danube. The city Furtwangen is located along the upper river Breg, while the city Donaueschingen is located at the symbolic source of the Danube. At times, the issue even involves the government of Baden-Württemberg. After the city council Donaueschingen intervened in 1981, for example, the Ministry of the Interior in Stuttgart announced that "the source of the Breg is not anymore displayed as the source of the Danube on ministerial maps. The land surveying office was instructed to act accordingly." However, the former minister for agriculture and forestry confirmed in a document addressed to Prof. Öhrlein in 1982: "Getting back to the issue regarding the source of the Danube, I can once again confirm that the so-called source of the Danube in Donaueschingen is certainly not the real source of the river Danube, if analysed with geographical and hydrological criteria. The river Breg can rightly be called the main stream of the Danube."