Page - 210 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

210 ChristianRohr Conclusions: Ice floodsand their impact onurbansocieties Inmany instances, ice floodswere catastrophic events because they gave the affected popula- tionhardlyany time toprepare. First, the rescueof victimsandmanagementofdamagehad to be undertaken with the available means. Second, these floods were often part of a series of catastrophiceventssuchas inKrems,whenthe ice floodof January1573hitahighlyvulnerable societyafteranextremesummer flood in1572,or inVienna in1784,whenthe ice flood followed a year of bad harvests in 1783 and an extremely cold January in 1784 after the Laki volcanic eruption. Bridges andwatermillswere themost vulnerable buildings in urban and sub-urban environments andconstitutedanobstacle for the ice floes, leading to ice jams. Newprotectionandcopingstrategieshadtobedeveloped, suchas theestablishmentof ‘ice observers’ on elevated hills after 1784. After finding that havingworkers attempt to break up the ice in advancewas not very effective, protective fenceswere erected in the streets as one drawing of the 1830 event testifies.Manyhouses in the endangered quarters of the citieswere equippedwithboats forescape.Solidarity throughdonationsaswell as thehousingofevacuat- edpeoplewaswidespread. Until the 18th century, the urban authoritiesweremainly responsible for disastermanage- ment and future prevention strategies, and in citieswith ahigh risk of flooding, urban legisla- tion provided shelter for the affected inhabitants. Onlywhen the availablemeanswere simply not sufficientwas further support requested as the petition of 1573 to the Emperor testifies. In somecases fromtheLateMiddleAges, themillownerhadtocopewith thedamagealone.From the timesof enlightenedabsolutism, rulers suchasEmperor Joseph II, as the sovereign inAus- tria, tookover a ‘patriarchalduty’ tohelp their subjects, likea father caring forhis children, as shownin1784. In1830,during the timeofneo-absolutism, thepresenceofArchdukeFerdinand was evenmoreprominent during the ice flood. Urbanculturalmemory is represented through floodmarksonprominentbuildings suchas town gates, but also through drawings and even treatises collecting newspaper reports and documenting thedonationsanddeedsof ‘localheroes’. It is remarkable that religiousresponses to ice floods aremissing for all periods examined, beginning from theMiddleAges to the 19th century. Although severe ice floods were unusual, extraordinary events, such floods were in manycases still part of ‘normal life’within cultures of riskmanagement. IllustrationCredits Fig. 1: ChristianRohr, valuesbasedon thedatapublished in theWiener Zeitung, 17 January to 3April 1784. Fig. 2: Vienna,ÖsterreichischesStaatsarchiv–Kriegsarchiv, BIXa242 sectio071. Fig.3: Brázdil et al. 2010, 181, basedon thedatapublished in theWiener Zeitung, 10 January to 3April 1784. Fig.4: Vienna, TheAlbertinaMuseum, Inv.No. 22610. Fig. 5: Vienna, TheAlbertinaMuseum, Inv.No. 22609. Fig.6: Vienna, TheAlbertinaMuseum, Inv.No. 22615. Fig. 7: Vienna, TheAlbertinaMuseum, Inv.No. 22616. Bibliography Primary sources Sartori 1830: F. Sartori,Wien’s TagederGefahr unddieRetter ausderNoth. EineauthentischeBeschreibungder unerhörtenUeberschwemmungWien’s unddes flachenanderDonaugelegenenLandes (Vienna 1830).