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A relic of World War II has emerged from the Danube more than 80 years after the war ended — along with the remains of two German soldiers whose identities still remain a mystery.
The Wehrmacht motorcycle — which officials identified as a DKW NZ 350-1 — was found in the Danube River in central Budapest this summer.
The discovery was announced by the German War Graves Commission, an organization that works to locate, recover and identify German war dead, in August.
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Pictures show the heavily corroded motorcycle caked in mud and rust — with its frame, wheels, fuel tank and storage boxes still largely intact.
“Because the harbor mud is mixed with gas oil, the motorcycle and identification tags are well preserved,” the German War Graves Commission said in a statement, adding that the motorcycle model “was considered particularly robust and reliable at the time.”
A World War II-era Wehrmacht motorcycle was recovered from the Danube River in central Budapest more than 80 years after the war ended. (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. via Facebook)
Officials also found the remains of two German soldiers while recovering the motorcycle, along with two well-preserved identification tags.
Both tags were still intact.
Typically, one half of a fallen soldier’s tag was left with the body, while the other was sent to the Wehrmacht Information Office so that the soldier’s family could be notified, according to the commission.
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The identification tags found with the remains are still being deciphered, Diane Tempel-Bornett, a spokesperson for the German War Graves Commission, told Fox News Digital in a translated email.
Tempel-Bornett said that despite the discovery of the tags, the identities of the two soldiers remain unknown.
The heavily corroded World War II-era motorcycle was found caked in mud and rust in the Danube River in Budapest. (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. via Facebook)
“The fact that the identification tags were found with the dead does not necessarily mean that they belonged to them — although that is quite possible,” she said.
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The fact that the tags were still intact could indicate the soldiers were never recovered or officially accounted for after their deaths, Tempel-Bornett said.
Two well-preserved identification tags, seen at right, were discovered alongside the remains of German soldiers recovered from the Danube River. (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. via Facebook)
Tempel-Bornett said identifying the soldiers can be a “long, painstaking process,” with even small details offering potential clues.
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Investigators can glean clues from the remains, including height, age and possible origin, while personal belongings such as wedding rings, glasses, jewelry and papers can also help establish an identity.
Researchers then compare those findings with military records and other historical evidence.
“We can only speculate [on the cause of death].”
“Here, we work closely with the German Federal Archives in Berlin,” she added.
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“Only when everything fits together is the person’s fate considered to have been clarified.”
The final stage, Tempel-Bornett said, is to reach out to any relatives of the deceased.
“If we have inquiries from relatives searching for them, that makes it easier,” she said. “Otherwise, our colleagues try to do so through an inquiry with the residents’ registration authorities.”
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For now, the identities of the two soldiers — and how they and the motorcycle came to rest in the Danube — are an ongoing mystery.
Officials have not determined how two German soldiers and a Wehrmacht motorcycle came to rest in the Danube River. (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. via Facebook)
“We can only speculate [on the cause of death],” added Tempel-Bornett.
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“Whether the dead tried to cross the frozen Danube, whether one fell, whether the dead were shot or drowned … we will only know after their fate has been clarified.”
