Broadsheet from woodcut: “The Great Waters,” January 1682.
Broadsheet from woodcut: “The Great Waters,” January 1682.
Broadsheet from woodcut: The “Great Waters,” January 1682.
All rights reserved. Featured on the Environment & Society Portal with kind permission of the Bavarian State Library. Broadside catalogue, call number: Einbl. V,9 af.
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In light of the catastrophic flooding of the Pegnitz River in Nuremberg in January 1682, the author of this broadsheet provides a historical context for the city’s experiences of floods. The broadsheet illustrates the extent of the damage caused by the 1682 flood in detail: the drowning of newly built streets and the Frauenkirche (The Church of Our Lady), and the water breaking down walls and buildings on its way. In the “noblest” parts of the city, where the water reached a height of over “one and a half men,” people and food supplies were transported by boat from one part of the city to the other. Aside from Nuremberg, the author notes that the cities of Bamberg, Frankfurt, and Regensburg had also suffered “almost indescribable destruction.” The author ties the flood to religious motifs. Citing the sinful nature of society, the author remarks that it is “no wonder that water has acted as proof of God’s wrath and zeal.” Call number: Einbl. V,9 af.
