Dear Reader,
Germany’s mighty rivers, the Rhine in the west, the Danube in the south and the Elbe in the north, brought prosperity to local merchants in the middle ages.
But they were also a threat to the wealthy trading towns that were built on their banks.
One of the most vivid reminders of the destruction these forces of nature can wreak is a series of markings at the entrance to Schloss Pillnitz in Dresden. These record high water marks on the River Elbe all the way back into the 18th century.
The highest markings, from 2002 and 1845, almost reach the top of the sandstone gate. (Eerily, the Elbe also has records of low water marks, so-called ‘hunger stones’ that record years of drought.)
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