Abstract This article explores the temporality of the catastrophic event depicted in Martin Opitz’s Vesuvius (1633), demonstrating that it is not a linear construct, but rather that the temporal dimension evolves with its own logic. The relationship between time and eventfulness is based on complex connections that become poetically significant. The text uses ‘chrono-references’, which, due to their complexity, manifest in ways that extend beyond mere spatial representation. This is because the poem ultimately presents cyclical time, which cancels out the singular catastrophe to some extent. It thus offers a commentary on the perception of time and the extent of catastrophe. Vesuvius presents the past and the present simultaneously, meaning that temporality is negotiated as a category itself.

Abstract This article examines the role of epic poetry in processing the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598) and its potential for fostering resilience. The concept of catastrophe is understood as a prolonged, complex experience that marks a fundamental collapse of order. Agrippa d’Aubigné, himself a Calvinist and eyewitness, processes the Wars of Religion in his work Les Tragiques . The epic is modeled on the biblical Apocalypse and uses the seven seals of Revelation to symbolically structure the destruction and suffering of the era. It represents a variant of the “epic of the defeated,” adopting the perspective of the vanquished and presenting the events partly in the form of a catalogue, partly allegorically, without central characters. The epic form serves as a cultural resource to preserve the memory of suffering and to transform the catastrophe into a metaphysical triumph. Despite the apocalyptic structure with its promise of salvation, the historical experience of violence remains present, with God himself appearing as an outraged spectator. The work thus creates a hybrid temporality, hovering between chaotic history and transcendent hope. It serves as an epic testament that preserves the Protestant memory of the catastrophe and conveys hope for future redemption through the Last Judgment.

Abstract This article attempts to explain the mining disaster in the Rammelsberg mine in Goslar in 1376, which is almost impossible to grasp in terms of real history and must also be considered highly improbable. But, nevertheless, it has endured for centuries as a mythical portent. The disaster and its date can be understood as a cipher in which concrete events and longer processes of experience have been condensed into a kind of ‘super catastrophe’. The cipher indicates a way of dealing with catastrophes and the associated losses and processes of impoverishment through storytelling. This form of ‘punctualisation’ is developed as a processing scheme, in contrast to other forms in which catastrophes are fixed, narrated and remembered through legends and folktales with the help of temporal indices.

Abstract Funerary writings, i. e. printed funeral sermons, open windows into the history of extraordinary but also everyday catastrophes. Using sources from urban contexts, the significance of judgment and divine omnipotence is outlined before the article goes on to discuss how clergy used such events to convey norms and resilience strategies. Being prepared for the manifold vicissitudes of life was something that was always linked in early modern funeral sermons to a discussion of norms that defined the ‘right’ way of life. Judgement was an opportunity, at least for those who survived it, to reorient themselves in their way of life on the one hand and to raise their gaze to things that could promote their resilience on the other. From the perspective of clergy across confessional boundaries, death was a good opportunity to convey the things that seemed particularly important for leading a life that would lead to a blessed death. The focus was very much on the individual case, from which certain guidelines for action were to be abstracted for the community of survivors. Being able to continue living without simply repressing a catastrophic event was a central intention of the printed funeral sermons.

Abstract This article examines how disasters are perceived and evaluated in the context of Konrad von Würzburg’s Trojanerkrieg . It shows that disasters in literary narratives function as dramatic events and as a means of reflecting on human experience, ethical questions, and the relationship between chance and fate. The narrative’s use of multiple perspectives enables readers to adopt different viewpoints on the events and scrutinize the relationship between individual actions and fateful twists and turns. The article demonstrates how the characters of Trojanerkrieg experience and evaluate their catastrophes, showing that the narrative addresses both fateful and randomly occurring aspects. According to the thesis, this type of narrative not only creates suspense but also provides a profound examination of human existence, addressing the meaning of luck and misfortune.