This is a popular German legend about Vineta and how the city reappears every hundred years for a day. I have not found an author to this version of the legend and also no professional english translation yet. Two motives appear in many versions of the legend: There...
This is the version from Ludwig Bechsteins collection of German Legends from 1853: Bei der Insel Usedom ist eine Stelle im Meere, eine halbe Meile von der Stadt gleichen Namens, da ist eine große, reiche und schöne Stadt versunken, die hieß Vineta. Sie war ihrer Zeit...
German born and UK based visual artist Mariele Neudecker creates aquarium installations of forests, houses or vessels since the late 1990's. Her so called "tank works" are three dimensional landscapes that evoque German romanticism, scientific artefacts as well as the...
To counter the global sea level rise, several initiatives have formed to block seas off from the global water flow. The idea behind it: If you control the global water flow, you could control the sea level locally without having to tackle the problem globally. Of...
In her essay on the motive of Mount Vesuvius, Valerie Hammelbacher traces the beginning of the image of disaster in art history back to the Britsh enlightment and the philosophy of physico-theology. More often referred to as natural theology, this school of thought...
Divine punishment is an ever recuring theme in urban disasters. However, sometimes the situation does not quite fit the morals. In 1906 an earth quake hit the San Franscisco region. Fires broke out in the city, 3.000 citizens lost their lifes and 80% of the city's...
Painting of the Goldauer Bergsturz by at the time sixteen year old Swiss artist David Alois Schmid (1791 - 1861). It depicts the massive landslide that completely destroyed the town Goldau in the Swiss mountains.
All along the Portuguese coast city squares are adorned with these types of pavements that resemble ocean waves. The Calcadas Portuguesa depict different motivs but the waves are a recurrent feature.
After the famous earthquake of 1755 that destroyed much of the city and could be felt all across the Mediterranean and much of continental Europe, the people of Lisbon had to rebuild the city. Portugal's chief minister Sebastia Jose de Carvalho e Mello (1699 - 1782)...
Contemporary etching of the Lisbon harbour during the 1755 earthquake and tsunami. Artist unknown.
