Background Article Crossing the Iron Curtain in an “Ulm Box” In 1961, twenty-one members of the Society of Danube Friends in Ulm travelled down the Danube River from Vienna to Budapest—crossing the border into communist Europe along the way.
Object Story Down the Danube in the Ulm Box A flat-bottomed wooden boat with a hut on top, sides painted in black and white stripes, and two very long oars at the front and back – that's an "Ulmer Schachtel" (Ulm box). This vessel, which seems curious today, was once an important means of transport on the Danube.
