ABSTRACT
The second half of the nineteenth century constituted a very dynamic period of urban growth. In many cities the floodplains between the rivers or lakeshores and the historic city center had been occupied by the upper middle-class bourgeoisie. Living near the water for other reasons than professional need can be seen as an attempt to integrate elements of ‘nature’ into the blueprint of a city. An uninterrupted view onto ‘nature’ (represented by the water) became fashionable both for residents and upper-class tourists. However, the urban bourgeoisie had often been quite careless in their search for ‘nature’ and sometimes suffered floods. In this paper, two examples are examined in detail: the Austrian city of Wels, situated on the Traun River, and the Swiss city of Lucerne, situated on Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee). The chapter investigates the human and non-human actors creating an absence of flood risk as well as the importance of the specifically urban context for this development. It does so by looking at the discourse on urban planning and flood control. Furthermore, it is examined to what extent those floods served as a further argument for better flood protection. Besides written sources, paintings and maps, the chapter also explores the early photography that represented this new way of urban living.
