Fractured Lands: Northern Germany in An Age of Unending War, 1627-1721

FAIN: FA-251595-17

Mary Lindemann
University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL 33146-2919)

A book-length study comparing government efforts at rebuilding in two northern German principalities, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg, during the war-torn years between 1627 and 1721.

The project explores a range of topics relative to the process of rebuilding and recovery in a period of unending war between1627-1721. Life in northern Germany was characterized by prolonged crises that were social, political/administrative, and economic, but also environmental in nature. It is based on a rich archival documentation from villages, cities, and districts in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg and includes less frequently exploited records on forests, dams, mills, waterways, epidemics, and epizootics. I argue that the extended period of war and crisis formed a crucible in which were forged new ways of dealing with structural, infrastructural, and exogenous realities. Thus, what may anachronistically be called a study in "crisis management" reveals a decentralization of authority and an acceleration of activity rather than the frequently accepted story of an increasing centralization of initiatives frustrated by local intransigence.