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Paper short abstract

Presentation examines the narratives surrounding the storms of 1868–1870 and the subsequent bark beetle outbreaks that reshaped the central Europe. It explores how foresters, officials and communities recounted these events, shedding light on cultural perceptions of climate and forest change.

Paper long abstract

In 1868 and 1870, two devastating windstorms struck Böhmerwald, felling vast tracts of spruce forest. Their aftermath unleashed one of the largest historical bark beetle gradations in Central Europe. This presentation examines how these storms and subsequent infestations were narrated in forestry reports, administrative correspondence, and financial accounts. Such narratives were not merely descriptive but framed the meaning of disaster, linked natural forces to morality or politics, and shaped the responses of forest management and local communities.

By analyzing these events, the presentation traces how climate and weather was conceptualized in a borderland environment where imperial forestry, local practices, and cultural understandings of nature intersected. The narratives reveal tensions between natural and “unnatural” weather, between human agency and natural forces, and between scientific forestry and vernacular weatherlore.

The study highlights how storm and bark beetle events became embedded in broader debates about order, resilience, and vulnerability in forest landscapes. It shows how the explanatory power of weather narratives was mobilized to understand ecological crises, legitimize interventions, and construct historical memory of catastrophe.

Placing these historical narratives in dialogue with current climate challenges demonstrates how local knowledge, perceptions of weather, and cultural framings of forest change can inform our understanding of today’s rapid shifts. Ultimately, the Böhmerwald storms and bark beetle gradation illustrate how climate and weather narratives mediate between natural disturbance, ecological transformation, and human meaning-making.