Topic
Leipzig – a City in a State of Flux: Urban-fluvial symbiosis from a long-term perspective
The city of Leipzig was built on the edge of the Pleiße, Weiße Elster and Parthe rivers. Since the Middle Ages, its residents have actively altered the course of these rivers in order to harness their power. The project examines the causes and consequences of these interferences in the river landscape.
Leipzig – a City in a State of Flux: Urban-fluvial symbiosis from a long-term perspective
Leipzig was built in the Middle Ages on the edge of the Pleiße and Weißer Elster floodplains. This location gave the city its name, which is derived from the Indo-European *Leibh-, meaning watery, slippery, clayey area. There is evidence of hydraulic engineering measures intended to secure the water supply and enable the use of hydropower and waterways dating back to the 12th century at the latest. These measures led to an anthropogenic transformation of the existing bodies of water, which shaped the city for centuries. With its eventful water history, Leipzig is a ideal case study for examining the interactions between humans and water.
As part of the DFG Priority Programme »On the Way to the Fluvial Anthroposphere«, the project is one of three sub-projects at the GWZO and Leipzig University examining the period between 1000 and 1800 from a long-term perspective and combining historical, archaeological and geoscientific analyses. The main objectives are to analyse (1) hydrological dynamics and urban politics, (2) floods and droughts as social-natural events, (3) urban water pollution and (4) floodplain economics. The GWZO sub-project researches the relationship between medieval Leipzig and its bodies of water.
