The Impact of Natural Disasters on Economic Life in the Eastern Alps. The Case of the Salzach-Inn and Traun River Catchment Areas

Daily weather, seasonal weather conditions and anomalies, long-term climate change and natural disasters had an outstanding influence on premodern Alpine economies. In this paper, emphasis is placed on damage caused by floods and adaptation strategies to cope with them. The examples are mostly taken from the Eastern Alps, in particular from the Salzach and Lower Inn valleys, as well as from the Traun river. If the water levels in the rivers were too high or too low, the transport capacities of the rivers were significantly diminished, which, for instance, affected salt shipping along the Salzach and Lower Inn rivers. Furthermore, most mills could not work during such a time, causing a deep impact on local food production (flour, etc.) and on the processing of goods. Floods also had a crucial influence on the transport of timber by slog driving, in particular from Alpine forests to the mining districts and to the salterns in Tyrol, Salzburg and the Salzkammergut. If one of the wooden rakes (barriers to collect the trunks at the destination) broke due to the power of water, the trunks would flush down the river and became destructive, like ‘torpedoes’. Bridges and mills were destroyed. Due to the immense loss of firewood, the smelting furnaces and salt production had to be closed for weeks or even months. Another impact of recurrent floods was swamp formation in flat valleys, which were used for the grazing of cattle. Areas like the Upper Salzach Valley south of Lake Zell had been flooded up to ten times a year, which made the swampy meadows unfit for agricultural use any longer. However, premodern societies in the Alpine areas and the nearby foothills tried to cope with and adapt to this situation, with the means available to them. In case of a flood, warning systems existed, e.g. by local skippers. Parts of mills and bridges could be removed or reinforced quickly. Carpenters in the towns and cities became specialized in the permanent repairs of wooden bridges and realized 10–20 percent of their annual turnover by flood-related labour. Early straightening of water courses and drainage projects should make swampy floodplains reusable for agriculture