14 May 2025

Photo: Martin Döring

Vortrag von Martin Döring in der Vortragsreihe Von Schöhnheit und Schrecken des Instituts für Empirische Kulturwissenschaft. Hauptgebäude, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, Flügel West, Raum 221

“Nordsee ist Mordsee” (The North Sea is a Murderous Sea) was the title Hark Boom gave to his 1976 film, which has since become a classic of German cinema. He knew exactly what he was talking about: growing up on Amrum, he was familiar with the foaming fury of the North Sea with its storm surges and the treacherous, ever-changing tidal channels between Amrum and Föhr in the Wadden Sea, which recently caused serious problems for a group of mudflat hikers, forcing them to be rescued by helicopter. But romantic sunsets also characterize the image of the Wadden Sea with flocks of birds conquering the horizon – popular postcards sent from summer vacations to friends and family on the mainland.

But how do the inhabitants of the island and Halligen actually perceive their home? How do they deal with the mental provocation of a tidal landscape that is neither land nor sea, that fascinates them and at the same time has repeatedly threatened their existence, oscillating somehow between nature and culture? And what challenges do they face in times of climate change, they who – including their ancestors – have long defied the Blanken Hans here in this exposed location? Based on these initial considerations, the lecture provides an insight into regional images of home and coastal landscapes and uses the example of nature-based coastal protection to show the role these images play in local climate change adaptation.

6:15 p.m. – 7:45 p.m., Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, West Wing, Room 221

Lecture series: Von Schönheit und Schrecken

Coordination:
Prof. Dr. Ruzana Liburkina / Prof. Dr. Norbert Fischer, both from the Institute for Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg