With the American and French revolutions, the spirit of Western man entered into a glorious phase of rational and humanistic thought. Perfection was possible: perfection of governmental process, of city planning, of the human condition. With rational thinking and dedicated effort, anything that humankind concieved of could be put into action. I would say that this spirit of having complete control over the destiny of our species continued all the way up to the Great War.
Amidst this great age of reason there was a man, Johann Gottfried Tulla. Born in Germany, he studied hydrological engineering in Italy before finishing up his education in Paris around the turn of the century (1798ish to 1802- an interesting time to be in Paris if you've ever followed the life of Napolean with any interest). When he returned to Germany he became the Head Water Engineer for the German state of Baden (Germany was not a country at the time, just a random group of independent states).

At the same time, there was a river, the river Rhine.

Today the River Rhine (or Rhein) officially begins in the Swiss Alps in a place called San Bernadino at an altitude of approximately 1600m (1 mile). It forms the border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein (I have crossed it at this point), then Switzerland and Austria, then Switzerland and Germany, where it flows into Lake Constance. Basel is the last large Swiss city it flows through before entering Germany, and acting as the border between Germany and the Alsace-Lorraine region of modern-day France. Leaving the French-German border at Strasbourg, it flows through the industrial heart of West Germany; flowing past its coal mines, its textile factories, its world-class vinyards, and some of the largest pharmecutical and chemical factories in the world today. At last it flows into Holland and the rest of the Netherlands, joining deltas with the river Meuse just before they both enter into the North Sea. Today more than 700 barges per day cross the Dutch-German border. The river, hardly the world's longest, (only 1400km in length) carries more traffic than any other river in the world besides the Mississippi. It is navigable year-round from the North Sea all the way to the city of Basel, and navigable most of the year by local boat all the way up to Lake Constance.

The river today was not the river that Johann Gottfried Tulla saw when he looked upon it in the first decade of the 19th century, not even close.

The river in those days was more than 82km longer- it had many meanders and oxbow lakes that provided good fishing for local fishermen. Its path was constantly changing: the town of Bereich started out on one side of the river and in historical time it became an island, and then ended up on the other side of the river, and came back again. The river flooded often, inundating the flood plain with melt-water from the Alps or rain water from the Rheinslate canyons or the Schwarzwald (the Black Forest), which lies along its right bank in southern Germany. Sometimes it had several channels, and it always had many islands and sandbars that made sailing treacherous. The current was fast and dangerous and there were hidden underwater barriers that could take out the bottom of a heavily-laden cargo ship at any moment. One such barrier was near the cliffs of Lorelei, where it was said that a siren sang from cliff's top and distracted the sailors, leading them to their deaths in the swiftly flowing water. At each turn in the river was another medieval castle. Barons and lords of all types lived in the castles and charged a toll for traversing their tiny section of the river, meaning that any trip down its length meant a fortune in taxes and tolls to the noblemen and the bishops of the church. The return trip up the river was extremely arduous. Boats could not be rowed or sailed against the strong current, so they had to be emptied of cargo and tugged by humans or work animals pulling them awkwardly from the bank of the river, or transported by land.

Along the river's banks were large softwood forests filled with willow and birch. There were many bogs and wetlands, and hundreds of species of birds and fish.
The bogs and wetlands also meant that there was plenty of opportunities for water-borne disease to spread, and dysentery, cholera, typhoid, and malaria were common causes of death. For as long as anyone could remember, the people had lived at the whim of the river- shying away from its banks for fear of flooding, staying close to it because of the life-line of water and mobility that it provided.

It was time for all of that to change. It was time for the River to serve the needs of the People.

Dilated said that I was like him because I was spacing out my updates a lot, but then I blogged yesterday & again today. Hence, not being like him.
» Le_Jes on 2007-04-25 12:18:23

YOU'RE NOT LIKE DILATED EITHER
Punk. I'm not even going to read your entry now.
» Dilated on 2007-04-25 12:17:47

I lied.

You're such a geo nerd.

» Dilated on 2007-04-25 12:18:08

Study something more interesting...
» Dilated on 2007-04-25 12:18:18

Like ironing techniques.
» Dilated on 2007-04-25 12:18:26

Or painting strokes.
» Dilated on 2007-04-25 12:18:40

Or Larry Walker. OR HAVE YOU SWITCHED TO ANOTHER TEAM NOW THAT YOU MOVED ACROSS THE COUNTRY? You fairweather fan, you. Even though he's retired...
» Dilated on 2007-04-25 12:19:57

You know I love you, Zanzi. You're so my number one.
» Dilated on 2007-04-25 06:26:34

Name.

URL.

[to enter your email, use "mailto:youremail@domain.com"]
Subject.

Comment.

Word verification.

Copy the first 4 characters only.

If you are a member, try logging in again or accessing this page here.