Floodplains represent a global hotspot of sensitive socioenvironmental changes and early human forcing mechanisms. In this review, we focus on the environmental conditions of preindustrial floodplains in Central Europe and the fluvial societies that operated there. Due to their high land-use capacity and the simultaneous necessity of land reclamation and risk minimisation, societies have radically restructured the Central European floodplains. According to the current scientific consensus, up to 95% of Central European floodplains have been extensively restructured or destroyed. Therefore, question arises as to whether or when it is justified to understand Central European floodplains as a ‘Fluvial Anthroposphere’. The case studies available to date show that human-induced impacts on floodplain morphologies and environments and the formation of specific fluvial societies reveal fundamental changes in the medieval and preindustrial modern periods. We aim to contribute to disentangling the questions of when and why humans became a significant controlling factor in Central European floodplain formation, and how humans in interaction with natural processes and other chains of effects have modified floodplains. As a conclusion, we superimpose emerging fields of research concerning the onset of the Fluvial Anthroposphere and provide 10 specific thematic objectives for future multidisciplinary work.

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Early in November 1333 flood waters gushed into the city of Florence. Giovanni Villani, eyewitness and chronicler of this disaster, wrote extensively on contemporary discourses about its origins. In recent research Villani's explanatory models have been viewed as characteristic of the oscillatory perceptions of his contemporaries, alternating between factors of natural history and notions of theological guilt. However, even Villani cited the lack of preparedness on the part of the inhabitants of Florence as the foremost cause of this particular tragedy that overtook his city. This explanation, which constitutes one more contemporary reaction to the disaster, has been largely overlooked by research on the subject of the 1333 floods. The records of the city administration open up fresh insights into hitherto little known reactions and measures resorted to by the Commune of Florence. This allows us a glimpse into the ‘life-world’ of contemporaries. The emerging account of pragmatic responses and concrete measures is useful in giving us access to collective attitudes which can legitimately take their place alongside of earlier, well-known interpretive models seeking to uncover ‘theories of practice’ in dealing with natural disasters.

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Der Schutz »Kritischer Infrastrukturen« ist eine breit akzeptierte Aufgabe. Konsens gibt es meist auch darüber, was mit ›kritisch‹ gemeint ist. Dem gegenüber steht eine Forschungslandschaft, die sich bislang kaum dem Konzept der Kritikalität gewidmet hat. Die Beiträger_innen des Bandes versuchen diese Lücke zu schließen, indem sie sich dem Begriff aus unterschiedlichen Disziplinen wie z.B. Geschichte, Philosophie, Soziologie, Ingenieurwissenschaft sowie Risiko-und Krisenmanagement nähern: Was bedeutet Kritikalität wirklich? Welche Traditionen, welche verdeckten Implikationen, welche politischen Agenden stehen hinter dem Konzept? Taugt es für die wissenschaftliche Forschung-und wenn ja: in welchen Disziplinen? Jens Ivo Engels (Prof. Dr.), geb. 1971, lehrt Neuere und Neueste Geschichte an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt. Er ist Sprecher des Graduiertenkollegs »Kritische Infrastrukturen. Konstruktion, Funktionskrisen und Schutz in Städten« (KRITIS). Alfred Nordmann (Prof. Dr.), geb. 1956, lehrt Philosophie und Geschichte der Wissenschaften und Technowissenschaften an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt und ist Principal Investigator am Graduiertenkolleg »Kritische Infrastrukturen. Konstruktion, Funktionskrisen und Schutz in Städten« (KRITIS).