Six weeks on the road

Styrian Viking conquers the Danube in a rowing boat

Reinhard Sovinz's self-built Viking ship.

(Bild: Reinhard Sovinz)

Reinhard Sovinz is known among friends as the Styrian Viking. This summer, the 71-year-old lived up to his name again and set off on an adventure with a group of six. They rowed 1300 kilometers along the Danube and finally reached their destination, Romania.

"The idea of building a Viking ship came to me 30 years ago when I was a frustrated doctor," says Reinhard Sovinz. He wanted to create something with his own hands, so within six years he constructed a rowing boat with sails based on the Norwegian model: 800 kilograms in weight and over ten meters long.

But as if that wasn't enough, Sovinz also wanted to set sail with his new vessel. He did this for the first time in 2017 on the Danube, but with little success. After 600 kilometers, the crew broke up and the adventure ended in a mutiny. The next attempt followed in 2022 with the same result. "I swore I'd never do it again," says Sovinz, knowing full well that things would turn out differently.

The six of them set off on a new adventure. Far left: Reinhard Sovinz.

(Bild: Reinhard Sovinz)

And so this summer, he and his troupe ventured a new attempt. The Vikings - three women and three men - launched their boat in Mohacs, Hungary. Their goal was to row 1300 kilometers along the Danube via Serbia and Bulgaria to Romania. During the day in sportswear and in the evening dressed as Vikings. Not exactly an everyday idea, is it? "Of course it's crazy. But I'm known as a Viking, so people are used to it by now," smiles Sovinz.

Pensioners rowed for days in scorching heat
The good news: "There was no mutiny this year." The group actually arrived in Braila, Romania, after six weeks. They covered up to 50 kilometers a day with oars or sails - the emergency engine was only used in exceptional cases. "This required enormous mental and physical stamina," explains the now 71-year-old doctor.

The six Vikings spent the nights in a tent.

(Bild: Reinhard Sovinz)

"It was over 40 degrees, we drank four liters a day and got up at half past four in the morning," he says, "in the evening we were always extremely exhausted and then had to put up the tent." However, the Styrian Viking even spent one spectacular night on the boat - out of fear of robbers.

And what sounds like something out of a bad movie actually became reality: at that anchorage in Serbia, two youths sneaked onto Sovinz's boat during the night. He was startled out of his sleep and put them to flight. They ran away screaming, says the 71-year-old. Completely exhausted but happy, the adventurers finally arrived in Braila: "We had a big party there," says the pensioner.