Power, Pleasure, And Pollution: Water Use In Pre-Industrial Nuremberg And Prague

Abstract

By looking at the uses of water in late medieval and early modern Nuremberg and Prague, the paper aims at contributing to the profile of pre-industrial cities in environmental history. After a brief overview of the role pre-industrial cities have played in environmental history and related fields, the paper discusses the relationship between water and city in the light of three issues: water as a source of power, water as a polluted resource, and piped water as a commodity. The first point is how water mills and riverside crafts were shaping the rivers in both cities. Secondly, the paper reviews cases of river water pollution in both cities and places them in a contemporary context. Thirdly, the paper looks at the development of technical systems of water supply consisting of water works, water towers, conduits, a few public fountains and dozens of private taps. Apart from being physical networks, these infrastructures networked consumers of running water in a sometimes conflicting way. The paper argues that the provision of piped water turned water into a commodity even before the 19th century. Finally, social and spatial inequalities in access to running water in both cities are discussed.