ABSTRACT
The flooding in 1862 meant not just destruction of the material environment but it challenged mental hierarchies and categories that shaped the processes of comprehending and organising subjective experiences in the rapidly changing city. This chapter pursues this crisis from a cultural historical perspective by looking at how the urban catastrophe was discussed in humorous magazines during and after the flood. It highlights the heroism of Emperor Franz Joseph and the charity of upper-class citizens in the press, whereas elements of death, danger and violence were absent with the exception of few horrifying details. The chapter discusses that floods have a long history in Vienna, and perceives and comprehends the overflowing of the Danube in 1862 as a part of a larger historical continuum. It shows that the catastrophic flood in Vienna in 1862 had a radical transformative power on material city space as well as meanings and ideas related to the urban environment.
