Page - 206 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

206 ChristianRohr (Already on the 28th [February] at noon [ice] broke up above the village of Nussdorf and started tomove. On themorning of the 29th, the ice in theDanubearmnearest toViennaalso gained somemomentum, but at first itwas jammedat the firstDanubebridgenext to theAugarten. Therewereworkers therewhowerebreakingup the ice floes to make them pass throughmore easily. At noon, the workers were suddenly shooed away from work,as theDanubeset itself inmotionwithamightygush. In its course, it rolledmighty ice floeson topof each other on both sides of the bank,where it was not really steepand very high, and formedanewextended shore […]).42 In addition, the reports of theWiener Zeitungprovide vivid anddetailed insight into the socio- economic consequences of the flooding inAustria, Bohemia, historicalHungary andGermany. Themost detailed reports concerned the situation inVienna on 29 February and the following days,whentheicefloodcoveredlargepartsof thedistrictsonboththeleftandrightbranchesof theDanubeRiver, and inparticular the suburbof Leopoldstadt (currentlydistrict II inVienna). Inhabitantswere trapped in their houses andhad tobe sustainedwith fooddeliveredbyboat: Nochungleich betrübterwarddie Lageder Einwohner in der Leopoldstadt, woalleHäuser längst demUfermit Wasser erfülletwurden.DieHöhedesWassers stieg an vielenOrtenbis 3 Schuh, sodaßmannichtmehr anders als auf Kähnen von einemOrte zumandern gelangen konnte. Eswuchs die hierauf folgendeNacht noch umein merkliches, undwasdiesen traurigenUmstandnochweitmehr verschlimmert, ist dieanhaltendeKälte,wodurch die Hofnung einer baldigen Oefnung des stemmenden Eises in der Donau entfernet, und durchaus das Elend vergrössert, dasunterdessen freylichdurchalle inderGewaltderRegierungstehendenMittel,welchemitgrosser Weisheit und Sorgfalt sind vorgekehret worden, gelindert und erträglicher gemacht wird, aber noch immer hart genug für diejenigen ist, so es betrift. (Still sadder was the situation of the inhabitants in Leopoldstadt, where all houses along the bankwere filled withwater. The level of thewater increased atmany places to three feet [95cm] so that one could not get [in any]otherway fromoneplace toanother [except]byboat. It still rose the followingnight considerablyandwhat made this sad situation farworsewas the persistent coldweather, removing the hope of a rapid breaking upof the ice on theDanubeRiver and increasing themisery thoroughly. Themiserywasmeanwhile, of course,made moremild andbearable byall possiblemeans in the power of the government,whichwere arrangedwith great wisdomandcare, but it still remaineddifficult enough for thepeople hit by the flood).43 Themighty ice floes causedseveredamage tohouses, bridges, and thewater supply system. In particular, the economic situation of the poor seems to have been disastrous during the hard winter of 1783/1784, both before and after the floods. TheWiener Zeitung contains several re- ports of donations for thepoor, presumablymoney, but in one case also large amounts of fire- wood.Donations are recorded frommembers of theHapsburg family, by aristocrats, by anony- mous benefactors and by the church. Individuals also provided support, such as a medical doctor in Vienna who offered to examine and cure the poor for no charge. Similar works of mercyandsolidaritywerealsoreported forother towns.Thedeanof theparishchurchofKrems was evenhonoured for his humanitarian efforts by theEmperor.44 InMalá Strana, a district of Prague, theOrder of the EnglishMisses opened their garden andbuilt an additional bridge to enablehundredsofpeopletoescapetheiceflood; theyalsoreceivedillpeoplefromtheInstitute for thePoor andcared for them for over 12 days.45 TheWiener Zeitung also contains detailed lists of people who died in Vienna during the weeksprecedingandfollowingthe ice flood.ThecitycentreofViennaand its suburbs (Vorstäd- te)were inhabitedby 209,121 people in 1783.46Onanaverageday, about 15–25peopledied; on 7 January 1784,during thepeakof the early January frosts inVienna, 53people lost their lives. During the ice floodof lateFebruaryandduring the followingweeks, theaveragemortalitydid not increase much (17–32 people died per day), suggesting that fewer people were killed 42Wiener Zeitung, 3March 1784, 438. 43Wiener Zeitung, 3March 1784, 438f. 44 Kinzl 1869, 314. 45Wiener Zeitung, 20March 1784, 578. 46Weigl 2003, 110.