The Storm Surge Event of the Netherlands in 1953

A disastrous storm surge hit the coast of the Netherlands on 31 January and 1 February 1953. We examine the meteorological situation during this event using the Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) data set. We find a strong pressure gradient between Ireland and northern Germany accompanied by strong north-westerly winds over the North Sea. Storm driven sea level rise combined with spring tide contributed to this extreme event. The state of the atmosphere in 20CR during this extreme event is in good agreement with historical observational data

Climatic and environmental changes during the Weichselian Lateglacial Interstadial in the Weerterbos region, the Netherlands

Lake sediment records from the Weerterbos region, in the southern Netherlands, were studied to reconstruct summer temperature and environmental changes during the Weichselian Lateglacial Interstadial. A sediment core obtained from a small lacustrine basin was analysed for multiple proxies, including lithological changes, oxygen isotopes of bulk carbonates, pollen and chironomids. It was found that the oxygen isotope record differed strongly from the other proxies. Based on a comparison with three additional lake sediment records from the same region, it emerged that the oxygen isotope records were strongly affected by local environmental conditions, impeding the distinction of a regional palaeoclimate signal. The chironomid-inferred July air temperature reconstruction produced inferred interstadial temperatures ranging between ∼15° and 18°C, largely consistent with previously published results from the northern part of the Netherlands. A temporary regressive phase in the pollen record, which can be tentatively correlated with the Older Dryas, preceded the expansion of birch woodland. Despite differences between the four pollen records from the Weerterbos region, a comparable regressive vegetation phase that was possibly the result of a shift to drier conditions could be discerned in all of the profiles. In addition, a temporary temperature decline of ∼1.5°C was inferred from the chironomid record during this regressive phase. The multi-proxy approach used here enabled a direct comparison of inferred changes in temperature, vegetation and environmental conditions at an individual site, while the multi-site approach provided insight into the factors influencing the pollen and isotope records from these small-scale depressions.

Collecting the Painted Netherlands: The Art Collection of Ernest of Austria in Brussels

The (art) collection of Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553-1595) is widely unknown when it comes to early-modern Habsburg collections. Ernest, younger brother of Emperor Rudolf II (b. 1552) and educated at the Madrid court, was appointed Governor-General of the Netherlands by King Philip II of Spain, his uncle, in summer 1593. Ernest relocated his court from Vienna to Brussels in early 1594 and was welcomed there with lavish festivities: the traditional Blijde Inkomst, Joyous Entry, of the new sovereign. Unfortunately, the archduke died in February 1595 after residing in Brussels for a mere thirteen months. This investigation aims to shed new light on the archduke and his short-lived collecting ambitions in the Low Countries, taking into account that he had the mercantile and artistic metropolis Antwerp in his immediate reach. I argue, that his collecting ambitions can be traced back to one specific occasion: Ernest’s Joyous Entry into Antwerp in June 1594. There the archduke received a series of six paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525/30-1569) known as The Months (painted in 1565), hanging today in separate locations in Vienna, New York and Prague. These works of art triggered Ernest’s collecting ambitions and prompted him to focus mainly on works of art and artefacts manufactured at or traded within the Netherlands during the last eight months of his lifetime. Additionally, it will be shown that the archduke was inspired by the paintings’ motifs and therefore concentrated on acquiring works of art depicting nature and landscape scenes from the 1560s and 1590s. On the basis of the archduke’s recently published account book (Kassabuch) and of the partially published inventory of his belongings, it becomes clear that Ernest of Austria must be seen in line with the better-known Habsburg collectors and that his specific collection of “the painted Netherlands” can be linked directly to his self-fashioning as a rightful sovereign of the Low Countries.

Printed Narrative: The Festival Books for Archduke Ernest of Austria from Brussels and Antwerp 1594

Workshop „The Narrative in Eastern and Western Art“, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto, 2-5 December 2013 Abstract by Ivo Raband, University of Berne Printed Narrative: The Festival Books for Ernest of Austria from Brussels and Antwerp 1594 During the early modern period the medium of the festival book became increasingly more important as an object of ‘political narration’ throughout Europe. Focusing on Netherlandish examples from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, my talk will focus on the festival books printed for the Joyous Entries of Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595). Ernest was appointed Governor General of the Netherlands by King Philipp II in 1593, being the first Habsburg Prince to reside in Brussels since 30 years. In Brussels and Antwerp, the Archduke was greeted with the traditional Blijde Imkomst, Joyous Entry, which dates back to the fourteenth century and was a necessity to actually become the sovereign of Brabant and Antwerp and to uphold the privileges of the cities. Decorated with ephemeral triumphal arches, stages, and tableaux vivants, both cities welcomed Ernest and, at the same time, demonstrated their civic self-assurance and negotiated their statuses. In honor of these events of civic power, the city magistrates commissioned festival books. These books combine a Latin text with a description of the events and the ephemeral structures, including circa 30 engravings and etchings. Being the only visual manifestation of the Joyous Entries, the books became important representational objects. The prints featured in festival books will be my point of departure for discussing the importance of narrative political prints and the concept of the early modern festival book as a ‘political object’. By comparing the prints from Ernest’s entries with others from the period between 1549 and 1635, I will show how the prints became as important as the event itself. Thus, I want to pose the question of whether it would have been possible to substitute a printed version of the event for the actual ceremony.

The Forgotten Archduke: The Funeral Monument for Ernest of Austria in Brussels

Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), second son of Emperor Maximilian II and younger brother of Emperor Rudolf II, was in his youth a possible candidate for the thrones of the Empire or the Spanish Kingdom. Instead, he became Governor-General of the Netherlands in 1593 and relocated to Brussels in 1594 where he was welcomed with lavish festivities as the bearer of hope and prosperity. Unfortunately, Ernest died only thirteen months later without having achieved any political success. His brother and successor Albert of Austria commissioned the funeral monument for Ernest in 1600 after it was settled that he would be buried in Brussels and not Vienna. Focusing on this monument, which draws stylistically from various dynasty-related models, it will be shown that Albert intended to use this monument – and thus his brother’s memoria – to make the Brussels Cathedral the primary location of Habsburg dynastic memory in the Low Countries.

Microsurgical reconstruction of the head and neck - Current practice of maxillofacial units in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Refinement in microvascular reconstructive techniques over the last 30 years has enabled an increasing number of patients to be rehabilitated for both functional and aesthetic reasons. The purpose of this study was to evaluate different microsurgical practice, including perioperative management, in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The DÖSAK collaborative group for Microsurgical Reconstruction developed a detailed questionnaire which was circulated to units in the three countries. The current practice of the departments was evaluated. Thirty-eight questionnaires were completed resulting in a 47.5% response rate. A considerable variation in the number of microsurgical reconstructions per year was noted. In relation to the timing of bony reconstruction, 10 hospitals did reconstructions primarily (26.3%), 19 secondarily (50%) and 9 (23.7%) hospitals used both concepts. In the postoperative course, 15.8% of hospitals use inhibitors of platelet aggregation, most hospitals use low molecular heparin (52.6%) or other heparin products (44.7%). This survey shows variation in the performance, management, and care of microsurgical reconstructions of patients. This is due in part to the microvascular surgeons available in the unit but it is also due to different types of hospitals where various types of care can be performed in these patients needing special perioperative care.