The Traun is not just an ordinary river. The Traun forms the central axis of a multiple water system: thunderous englacial streams, waterfalls, seventy-six lakes, numerous sources of all kinds, cave waters, calm meadowlands, thousands of kilometres of river and stream watercourses – at the end all of it is supplied by one single river. This multiple richness is hardly comprehensible – nevertheless it can be overseen – in the literal sense. On a clear day, one can see the whole length of the river, beginning with the wild, severely protected meadows of the Traunauen in the city area of Linz, up to the Dachstein, from a hill in the north of the Danube. Thus, the wild way of the water from the Dachstein to the Danube forms the plot line, together with the way of the Traun throughout the seasons and thousand years of its eventful story.