It is fortunate that Mitteleuropa has been researched so far because relevant comparative studies can be accomplished regarding the Danubian culture. If one remembers what a scientific, cultural and political factor of the Mitteleuropa became more than a decade ago and the role this phenomenon played in the democratization process in the Central Europe from the perspective of national re-identification, the Danubian culture should neither be neglected from the point of view of the actual processes of European integration which countries of the lower Danube are also involved in. In the specific recent political circumstances in Central and Eastern Europe, the easiest solution has been to find refuge in nationalism which makes a closed border out of the Danube as well. No European river would link such great lands and geographically different areas as the Danube does and yet, one is free to sail everywhere on it. If many tourist ships already sail on the upper Danube and this way of traveling becomes more and more popular in the Western Europe, the Central and Eastern European Danubian countries still have not profited enough from this possibility not only of economic progress but also of approaching Europe of democracy and well being .
Cultural tourism can finance preservation of cultural heritage.
Wiener Journal Zeitschriftenverlag, 1990. Zeitschrift des Institutes fur den Donaurum und Mitteleuropa. Editions Odile Jacob, 1993. Editions Hazan, 1990.