Lower Rhine Region Research Articles

Burgi in the Loess Plain of the Lower Rhine Region in Late Antiquity

Defensive infrastructure in the hinterland of the late Roman province of Germania Secunda hinged upon the widespread use of burgi. These defended settlements played a role in transforming villa estates, depopulated zones, and the expansion of the military footprint. They are common in the late third- and fourth-century landscape, spread throughout the loess belt of Belgium, Dutch Limburg, and the Rhineland, yet little has been done to quantify them. This article is dedicated to the chronology, morphology, and functional aspects of burgi, primarily in the loess plain of the Lower Rhine region. The author assembles data from a wide variety of burgi, to characterize them and reach meaningful conclusions about what they represent within the landscape, in the hope that it will act as a pilot project for future work in the field.

Centrality on the periphery: an analysis of rural settlement hierarchy in the Dutch part of the Roman limes

The Lower Rhine region was of crucial importance for the Roman empire as a transit zone from Gaul to the North Sea. The river Rhine functioned both as a transport artery and as a defence line. Huge investments were made in the first century CE to protect this economic lifeline, by installing a line of forts and legionary camps along the river from Cologne up to the North Sea, known as the Lower Germanic limes. Unlike areas further south, however, its hinterland did not witness a development towards a ‘central place’ settlement pattern, but instead shows seemingly separate trajectories of development of the ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ settlements. In this paper, the apparently weak socio-economic interaction between the towns, forts and rural hinterland is analysed using a model of settlement hierarchy originally developed by Bertoncello et al. (2012). Data on building materials and ceramic imports found in archaeological surveys and excavations in the Dutch part of the region were used as indicators of socio-economic status, and settlements were classified accordingly. Statistical and spatial analysis of the resulting settlement classification revealed a weak hierarchy of rural settlement in the region, that was to some extent influenced by the development of towns.

Investigation of cultural ecosystem services supply in a river landscape: a case study in the Lower Rhine area using social media images

River landscapes have an important function in the landscape in terms of coastal use and the opportunities they provide and they offer different cultural ecosystem services (CES). CES have a significant impact on human welfare in terms of the recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits these generate for people. However, the modelling and analysis of these services is more limited versus other ecosystem services due to their intangibility and subjectivity which creates unique challenges. Recently, social media data have provided an opportunity to generate spatial models of CES, offering significant cost and time advantages. Nevertheless, the usefulness of these novel data sources still requires more investigation versus more traditional survey techniques. This study aims to understand the variety of information provided by the images that users upload publicly on a daily basis to social media in a urban/rural setting. Specifically, CES provided by the open and green spaces around the Lower Rhine (Nederrijn) in Wageningen were studied using images uploaded to the social media platform Flickr. A photographic survey was then conducted to compare the utility and accuracy of these new data versus traditional techniques. In doing so, spatial data, ratings and survey evaluations related to the photographs were digitised, classified and integrated with land cover features. The results show that there is a good consistency between the two sources of data and that a wide range of CES measures can be established using these novel data sources. More work is now needed in developing spatial indicators of CES relevant to local assessments, such as the one carried out in this study. Focusing on the Lower Rhine region as a case study, we used the Flickr digital platform to address the following three key questions: (1) What is the spatial distribution of CES? (2) Do users who post on the Flickr platform fully represent the cultural identity of the community and visitors in the region? (3) Which land-cover types of the Lower Rhine region are most appreciated for CES and what are the aesthetic preferences of visitors and experts that correspond to this?

Connecting Ships: Using Dendrochronological Network Analysis to Determine the Wood Provenance of Roman-Period River Barges Found in the Lower Rhine Region and Visualise Wood Use Patterns

Abstract This study combines standard dendrochronological analyses with network science and spatial analysis to determine the provenance of wood used to build river barges in the Roman period. The river barges studied were found in the Lower Rhine region and would have carried bulk goods, such as grain, military supplies, and building materials. The importance of these vessels in the supply of the local economy and military units is evident since many were found in the area, including some in the vicinity of military complexes. However, it remains unknown where these ships were built and how and where the raw materials for their construction were obtained. To better understand the provenance of the wood, network science was applied to visualise and understand the complex patterns of similarity between the tree-ring curves. For the interpretation of the networks we have studied the context, the position of the trees in the network and the use of these trees in shipbuilding. In addition, the shape of the converted timber was used to visualise the wood use patterns in this type of Roman-period shipbuilding. For the river barges, we were able to determine several possible regions for wood procurement. Based on the analysed material, we assume that there was at least one shipyard in the Lower Rhine region where two ships, found in separate excavations, were most likely produced at the same time.

Niederländische und niederdeutsche Sprachvarietäten bei Johannes Drusius dem Älteren

Abstract This study is based on the third part Censura of the lexicographical work Nomenclator Eliae Levitae Germani (Franeker: Albert 1652), revised by the scholar Johannes Drusius. Censura (pp. 48–234) contains 796 Latin and Hebrew dictionary entries from the Old Testament. Those entries are brief comparisons between the three Linguae sacrae Latin, Greek and Hebrew or present a longer discussion on the respective words in Latin. This article focuses on those Dutch and Low-German variants which Drusius labeled in 26 articles as regional variants, namely Saxon (in fact Low-Saxon), Flandric (Flemish region), Frisian, Sicambric (Lower Rhine region), Batavian (Lower Rhine region) and Hollandic. The study analyses regional variants in the context of their word entries and in regard to their grammatical distinctions. The inclusion of the regional variants by Drusius is not systematic, but their presentation probably aimed at didactic purposes and, in some cases, towards a better understanding of etymological relations.

Eostre and the Matronae Austriahenae

The Venerable Bede (672–735 AD) provides our only account of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, which he claimed to be the origin of the Easter festival name in the English language. In the early nineteenth century the goddess was imagined to have been a pan-Germanic deity renamed Ostara, and subsequently suggested to be the Germanic reflex of a more ancient Indo-European dawn goddess. However, by the latter half of the twentieth century many academics began to question the reliability of Bede’s account, with these doubts now being reflected in wider reference publications. More recently Eostre has been thrown a linguistic lifeline, not as a pan-Germanic or Indo-European deity, but as a local goddess in eastern Kent, said to have been shaped by naming practices that parallel the Romano-Germanic matron cults of the Lower Rhine region. This article re-examines the principal evidence that underpins this ‘local goddess’ theory, offers an alternative explication for the Matronae Austriahenae, and argues that any reinterpretation of Eostre cannot simply ignore or dismiss the one piece of evidence Bede provides about her cult, namely the timing of her month (Eosturmonath) and celebrations.

NEW INSIGHTS CONCERNING IDENTIFICATION, MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION OF INDIGENOUS TREES AND SHRUBS IN THE NETHERLANDS

In densely populated European countries like the Netherlands, old landscape elements such as ancient woodlands and ancient hedges are today rare. Owing to the introduction of exotic species and indigenous trees and shrubs imported from other climate zones, recognition of truly wild, i.e. autochthonous, individuals and populations is now problematical, posing challenges for forest management agencies, particularly at Natura 2000 sites. The author has developed a method for recognising genetically pure wild woody species, based on characteristics of the plant itself and those of the growing site. With this method, explained here, around 70% of the Netherlands has been surveyed, along with much of Flanders and part of the lower Rhine region of Germany. The results are illustrated with reference to two Dutch ancient woodlands, where new insights were obtained in terms of native status of the woody species and the ‘authenticity’ of the tree and shrub layer.

The promise of endogenous potential in times of crisis

The measures against the spread of the Covid-19 virus have massive effects on local economies. By means of an explorative qualitative case study in deprived neighbourhoods in the Middle Lower Rhine region of Germany, this paper explicitly aims at examining the Corona pandemic’s impact on their endogenous potential. In this context, the focus is on organisations whose main contribution lies in the fulfilment of the function of integration and communication. The analysis is based on theoretical concepts of the local economy, but it also refers to crisis as well as transition research, especially the multilevel perspective framework. By means of desktop research, a focus group with multipliers involved in local economic contexts as well as thirteen guideline-based interviews with the heads of local organisations, the subsequent analysis reveals the partially counteracting effects of the Corona pandemic on the organisations’ socio-economic embeddedness. On the one hand, they are threatened by economic bottlenecks, by pending social consequences of a longer period without or with minimized offerings as well as by fear of contagion and exhaustion. While the organisation’s perceived level of urgency varies greatly, their level of uncertainty is generally high. On the other hand, organisations of the local economy benefit from a positive push in the areas of digitization and new life and working environments (home-based work), as well as from a strengthening of local solidarity and cohesion.

Adam Pastor (ca. 1500–ca. 1565)

Abstract Adam Pastor was an itinerant Anabaptist bishop in the Lower Rhine region. Ordained by Menno Simons around 1542, he is best known for the division that unfolded between Dirk Philips and Menno Simons, which led to the first schism in Mennonitism. Although sixteenth-century contemporaries described him as an important bishop alongside Menno, Mennonite historiography since then has largely ignored him. Pastor’s theological views are known primarily from his Onderscheytboeck [Book of Distinctions] of ca. 1554. The recent discovery of an earlier and hitherto unknown version of this writing, however, demonstrates a more gradual development of Adam Pastor’s “spiritualism.” In 1547 Pastor opposed Menno’s Melchiorite doctrine of the incarnation. Several years later, he arrived at the inevitable conclusion and denied—at least implicitly—the Trinity. The result was his break with Menno and Dirk and a subsequent division between the bishops from the Northern Netherlands and those of the Lower Rhine.

Checking the Plausibility of Modelled Nitrate Concentrations in the Leachate on Federal State Scale in Germany

In Germany, modelled nitrate concentrations in the leachate are of great importance for the development of scenarios for the long-term achievement of the groundwater quality target according to the specific requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive as well as within the context of the recently adopted general administrative regulation for the designation of nitrate-polluted areas in Germany. For the German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Rhineland-Palatinate (RLP), an area-covering modelling of mean long-term nitrate concentrations in leachate with high spatial resolution was carried out using the model system RAUMIS-mGROWA-DENUZ. Hotspot regions with nitrate concentrations in the leachate of 50 mg NO3/L and more were identified for intensively farmed areas in the Münsterland, Lower Rhine, and Vorderpfalz. The validity of modelled values was checked using measured values from 1119 preselected monitoring stations from shallow springs and aquifers filtered near to the surface with oxidizing properties. For the land use categories of urban areas, arable land, grassland, and forest, an at least good agreement of modelled nitrate concentrations in the leachate and measured nitrate concentrations in groundwater was obtained at numerous sites. An equally good agreement was obtained for 1461 measuring stations from the area of responsibility of the Erftverband, which is a major water supplier in the Lower Rhine region. Here, discrepancies have been analyzed in detail due to profound regional knowledge on observation sites. It turned out that in most cases, accuracy limitations of input data (e.g., N balance surpluses of agriculture at the municipal level, 1:50,000 soil map) have been the reason for larger deviations between observed and modelled values. In a broader sense, the case study has shown on the one hand that the model system RAUMIS-mGROWA-DENUZ is able to reliably represent interrelationships and influencing factors that determine simulated nitrate concentrations in the leachate. On the other hand, it has been proven that observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater may provide a solid data source for checking the plausibility of modelled nitrate concentrations in leachate in cases where certain preselection criteria are applied.

A Viability Study of Waterborne Platooning on the Lower Rhine

To achieve a modal shift towards waterborne transport and to deal with the shortage of crewmembers, a platooning concept called the “Vessel Train” is explored for the inland navigation sector. A Vessel Train consists of a lead and various follower vessels. The lead vessel is fully manned and takes over the navigational and situational awareness responsibilities for the follower vessels. This leading action benefits the followers through increasing the vessels’ productivity and enabling crew cost savings. This article investigates the viability of the concept for the lower Rhine region, by presenting a cost model that compares the Vessel Train conditions to the current sailing conditions. This model is used to assess a case study where lead vessels operate on a liner service between Antwerp and Duisburg. Economically viable cases for the concepts’ early-stage application and fully matured implementation are identified, and boundary conditions are presented. The viable conditions vary depending on the vessel type and the operating regime of the reference vessel. A fully matured VT implementation requires a minimum of 26 participants, whereas an early-stage implementation requires 40 participants. The early-stage implementation additionally includes a minimum distance of 200 km to be spent sailing in the VT and the distance sailed in the VT has to amount to a minimum of 50% of the entire trip.

Regionale Industrialisierung revisited – Die niederrheinische Textilregion von der Protoindustrialisierung bis zum 20. Jahrhundert als Fallbeispiel

Abstract The concept of Regional Industrialization developed by Rainer Fremdling, Toni Pierenkemper and Richard Tilly is based on a small-scale research approach and composes regions according to criteria of homogeneity. This paper argues that the concept is fruitful in regard to textile regions and their analysis in a long-term perspective from proto-industrialization to the 20th century. It examines relevant factors such as capital, labour, raw materials, transfer of capital, technology and knowledge in order to analyse the specific regional path of growth. Especially the role of migrant pioneer entrepreneurs and the institutional-cultural setting, i.e. the state monopolies of the regional silk and velvet producers are addressed. Mechanisation and the factory system were introduced relatively late in comparison to other regions in the wool and cotton branch of textile industry. But innovations in weaving and energy technology diffused rather rapidly in Krefeld, Mönchengladbach and the rural surroundings. The paper shows how the growing textile industry of the left lower Rhine region diversified during the Great Depression of the 1870s-90s and induced forward and backward linkages to the machinery, tool and chemical industries. In all segments of the textile industry in the region (silk, velvet, cotton, wool, synthetics) path dependencies evolved which still have an effect on research institutions and industrial culture today.

First report of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus infecting tomato in Germany

In July 2018, unusual fruit and leaf symptoms were observed in numerous greenhouses cultivating tomatoes commercially in the Lower Rhine region of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Foliar symptoms included chlorosis, mosaic with dark green …

Recommendation und Reklame

Summary Recommendation and Promotion.German Fire-Engine Makers and Early Modern Practicesof Advertising This paper sets out to analyse early modern practices of advertising beyond traditional modernization narratives. Combining a case-study, the marketing of fire engines in the 18th-century Lower Rhine region, with theoretical considerations, it argues that studying practices of advertising can contribute to historicizing the ‚economic‘ in a broader perspective. The paper examines the interplay between different forms of advertising, e. g. printed advertisements, public demonstrations, and recommendation letters. It identifies various strategies used to display expertise and diversify the groups of potential customers. These strategies are mapped against the particular profile of the engine-makers who moved between the border-crossing milieu of artisan-inventors and the patronage of regional administrative elites. Finally, the paper traces the different ways engine-makers competed with each other in the regional „Intelligenzblatt“ as opposed to in the marketplace, thereby linking the historicization of advertising to current debates in market sociology.

1395P - Specialized ambulatory palliative care: (SAPV) 5-year results of a multi-professional care model by HomeCare linker Niederrhein gGmbH (HC) in the Lower Rhine region

Background: In recent times, German legislation has given terminally ill patients the right to receive SAPV, a multi-professional palliative care model which is aimed at prevention of hospital admission and enabling patients to die at home despite severe symptoms and a high need for palliative care. This new type of care raises the question about the best implementation and impact of SAPV. HC provides SAPV to 560.000 inhabitants of the city of Mönchengladbach and the district of Viersen. Methods: Data collected during daily care from 2012 to 2016 are summarized and analysed in order to describe the implementation and results of SAPV. Results: 1798 patients were treated in 5 years. The first contact with SAPV was initiated by a GP in 30% of patients and by a specialist in 4.5%; in 26% through a hospital, in 6% by a palliative care unit and in at least 30% by non-medical participants, such as relatives, nursing services, counseling centers etc. 20% of all patients were treated only temporarily by SAPV. 6% were admitted to a hospice, 14% were transferred to regular care after counseling or crisis intervention. Of the remaining patients, only 3.3% had to be hospitalized at the end and 96.7% were able to remain in their chosen home environment. That was at home for 80%, at a relative’s home for 3%, in a nursing home for 14%, and miscellaneous for the remaining 3% of patients. Sonography, thoracic and abdominal paracentesis, patient-controlled analgesia etc. were performed in the patient's home by the SAPV team. Of all 1798 patients, 112 had to be hospitalized; 64 were subsequently retreated with SAPV and 48 were not. The main reasons for hospitalization were palliative interventions due to ileus and urinary retention in the upper tract, radiation of a fracture, psychosocial decompensation of the supporting relatives and confirmation of the palliative concept. The average treatment duration was 19 days, the median was under 10 days. In detail, 112 patients were treated for less than 24 hours, 271 patients for less than 48 hours, 57 patients were treated for more than 90 days and 4 patients for over 200 days. Conclusions: The wish of patients to die at home and to avoid unnecessary hospitalization can be achieved with this model of specialized care. Further comparative investigations are necessary to identify the optimal implementation and impact of SAPV. Legal entity responsible for the study: Ulrich Grabenhorst Funding: None Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest. Keyword: SAPV

Fußball und Regionalentwicklung. Eine Analyse der regionalwirtschaftlichen Effekte eines Fußball-Bundesliga-Vereins – dargestellt am Beispiel des Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach

Soccer—the world’s most important triviality—is not only the most popular sport in Europe, but has furthermore become an increasingly important research subject for various scientific disciplines. For regional economists and policy advisers, especially the estimation of regional economic impacts of soccer clubs and their regular major sport events are of high importance and interest. Whereas athletic success and challenges are achieved within the stadium, along with the popularity of the soccer club and its athletes, significant economic benefits can arise for the cities and regions hosting a soccer club. The purpose of this article is to analyze and estimate the impact, the German national league soccer club Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach exerts on its surrounding region, the Middle Lower Rhine Region in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The analysis differentiates expenditure-based and supply side effects. On one hand, the value added effect for the hosting region is estimated at nearly 100 mio. € annually. In addition, employment effects arise from the 1.075 employees working for the club. On the other hand, the results indicate that the club’s effects on the region’s perception, awareness and public image—which are mostly not included in comparable scientific studies, as it is difficult to quantify and measure these effects—are significant and should no longer be neglected in cost-benefit analysis of large sporting events. The results also suggest the existence of a positive influence on the local identity and sense of belonging of the population that is characterized in this study as “psychological income”. Summarized, a soccer club is identified as a significant and valuable location factor.

Market strategies in the Roman provinces: Different animal husbandry systems explored by a comparative regional approach

The Roman occupation led to urbanisation, trade and population increases in the northwestern provinces, which caused an increased demand for food. The adaptation of agrarian regimes to satisfy this increased demand is still little understood. Zooarchaeological data from two regions were analysed in order to identify and explain broad patterns in animal husbandry in regions that are known to have had a different development. Such a systematic and direct comparison of zooarchaeological data from two regions in the Roman Empire has not been carried out before. The data set contains 128 assemblages from 81 rural sites in the Lower Rhine region in the Netherlands and the northern part of modern Switzerland, with a total of over 68,000 bone fragments of cattle, sheep or goat and pig. Analysis revealed differences in species proportions, with cattle and horse more important in the Dutch research area and pig and chicken in the Swiss research area. Slaughter ages revealed further differences in exploitation, with a larger focus on meat in the Dutch research area, and a larger emphasis on arable farming, transport and industry in the Swiss research area. The Swiss research area also shows evidence of more intensive pork production. Cattle increase in size in both research areas, but are generally larger in the Swiss research area. The differences in animal husbandry can be related to different modes of agrarian production, with a larger scale of farming and a higher extent of specialisation found in the Swiss research area. The conclusion of this study is that while changes in animal husbandry occur throughout the Roman Empire as a result of economic and demographic developments, different regions responded in different ways.

The Politics of Identity: Late Iron Age Sanctuaries in the Rhineland

Abstract The Late Iron Age in the Rhineland area was a period of intensive social change, manifested in the development of a hierarchical system of sanctuaries. This paper discusses the social implications of this development, thereby emphasizing the role of regional and supraregional cult places as key-sites in the construction of politicized ethnic identities and associated power networks. Moreover, some interesting spatial and temporal patterns can be observed. In the Middle Rhine-Moselle area, the main sanctuaries and assembly places seem to be located in major fortified settlements (oppida) and often seem to have been the oldest elements within these sites. In the Lower Rhine region, there is no link between cult centers and fortified settlements, and at least one of the regional cult sites was situated in a forest.

Mary of Guelders and her Book: Prolegomena to the Study of a Remarkable Manuscript

This article discusses the early fifteenth century prayer book commissioned and owned by duchess Mary of Guelders. This book-which is now divided into two manuscripts, one in Berlin (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, MS Germ. qu. 42) and one in Vienna ((Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1908) -has been known in (art historical) scholarship for more than 150 years. However, this research has been limited to examination of the place of the decoration of the book within the development of manuscript illumination of the Lower-Rhine region and the Netherlands more generally. This publication seeks to provide discussion of current arthistorical and textual aspects of the book and examine the prayer book in its context, which makes clear that the book was adapted to the specific tastes and preferences of the duchess of Guelders and that different cultural influences can be detected. Analysis of the book within this context opens up many lines of enquiry, which promise to reveal more insight into not only the artistic richness of the region, but also the devotional possibilities of a noble laywoman in the early fifteenth century.

Imperial timber? Dendrochronological evidence for large-scale road building along the Roman limes in the Netherlands

During the Roman period various military structures were build along the limes in the Lower Rhine Region. These military structures were connected with a road. This road has been excavated at various locations. One construction phase of the limes road and related structures was dendrochronologically dated to the autumn or winter of AD 124–125. This phase is probably related to a visit of emperor Hadrian to the region. The dendrochronological material of all contexts from this period shows a striking similarity of the tree ring patterns. This indicates that the wood came from a single region. This region is thought to have been located on the coarse soils between Xanten and Venlo. The timber was thus transported over a distance of approximately one hundred kilometres, making this the earliest example of large-scale long distance timber transport in the Lower Rhine region. The scale of the project justifies the assumption that the Roman state and army were involved. The oaks were most likely transported over water using barges. It should be noted that local wood was also used, indicating that the local woodlands were not yet depleted, but for this large-scale project the Roman army also had to look elsewhere for resources.