ALBERT

Description: The fire brigade was the first to dispatch emergency teams to the disaster area and provide assistance day and night, thanks to its omnipresence and versatility. This meant that local, voluntary firefighters were probably among the first rescue workers to fall victim. This contribution thrusts the fire brigade as a rescue service during the flood into the spotlight. This shows both the initial and the subsequent assistance provided by local fire brigades and additional units from outside the disaster area. Research has shown that the role played by the Dutch fire service – not to mention the Italian fire brigade –was massive and hugely significant, especially considering they worked under very dire circumstances and with limited resources.

Description: After the occupation by German troops in May 1940, the German authorities demanded the Dutch fire service be remodelled in line with their own example. In Germany, firefighting had been a police task since 1938. Fire service columns were formed to stop the spread of large-scale fires after air attacks. A great deal of organisation was needed to deploy the large number of pumps, men and large quantities of water. In the Netherlands two mobile columns were formed, which ultimately comprised about 1200 men in two large units, each consisting of four companies with a total of 223 vehicles. The firefighters were trained in the German way and became highly disciplined. The units were deployed after air raids on Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Haarlem in 1943, and Nijmegen and The Hague in 1944. From February 1944, however, the Dutch units were also sent to help in different German cities under attack. The Dutch fire service columns were stationed in eight depots in The Hague, Rotterdam, Baarn, Weesp, Deurne and Winterswijk. The last of the Dutch column was disbanded and sent to the German Fire Service School in Beeskow near Berlin in September 1944.

Description: Between 1924 and 1979, 50 municipal police forces in the Netherlands were involved in transporting injured people by motor vehicle. As well as genuine ambulances, they also used auxiliary ambulances or multi-purpose vehicles, i.e. cars fitted with a stretcher. This task fell under their duty to maintain public order and deal with road accidents, which was entrusted to the police. During the German occupation of the Netherlands between May 1940 and May 1945, the police continued its task of transporting wounded people. After the Second World War, several police forces purchased multi-purpose vehicles, especially in smaller towns. Their busiest period came in the 1950s and 60s as a wave of traffic accidents swept across the Netherlands. In 1979, the role of the police in transporting wounded people came to an end because ambulance care had professionalized and the police wanted to focus on traditional tasks.

Description: On 13 March 1908, the National Bureau for the Collection of Data on the Trade in Women and Girls was founded. The 47-year-old H.J.A. Simons de Ruyter was appointed National Police Commissioner. He proved to be the best person for the job owing to his passion for gathering and recording vital data, his knowledge of languages and his dedicated, helpful and generous personality. The Bureau and the police worked with women’s organisations to monitor activities and carry out checks at stations and ports where women and girls who could be exposed to a lewd lifestyle might be travelling. After legislation on morality was passed in 1911, the Bureau was given an additional task in 1914 to tackle trade in lewd publications. After the First World War erupted that year, there was not much more to do at the Bureau, which led Simons de Ruyter to support the immigration authorities in Amsterdam at his own request. This consisted mainly of finding accommodation, providing healthcare, food, clothing and financial assistance and helping to repatriate Belgian refugees.

Description: On 13 March 1908, the National Bureau for the Collection of Data on the Trade in Women and Girls was founded. The 47-year-old H.J.A. Simons de Ruyter was appointed National Police Commissioner. He proved to be the best person for the job owing to his passion for gathering and recording vital data, his knowledge of languages and his dedicated, helpful and generous personality. The Bureau and the police worked with women’s organisations to monitor activities and carry out checks at stations and ports where women and girls who could be exposed to a lewd lifestyle might be travelling. After legislation on morality was passed in 1911, the Bureau was given an additional task in 1914 to tackle trade in lewd publications. After the First World War erupted that year, there was not much more to do at the Bureau, which led Simons de Ruyter to support the immigration authorities in Amsterdam at his own request. This consisted mainly of finding accommodation, providing healthcare, food, clothing and financial assistance and helping to repatriate Belgian refugees.

Description: In 2022, Korpora, the Public Safety Heritage Centre opened – tasked with acquiring, managing and exhibiting physical and digital collections on public safety in the Netherlands. Today, Korpora includes the national collections of the Dutch police and the fire service, the Dutch Red Cross and the former Civil Defence service. Korpora’s roots go back to the early 20th century, when firefighting and police enthusiasts began collecting heritage items from these organisations and putting them on display. Despite setbacks due to a lack of funding and a suitable home for the objects, as well as a lack of historical awareness within those organisations, a great deal of heritage items still managed to be preserved. Thanks to the dozen or so foundations – some already in existence, some set up later – the heritage has been preserved, expanded and ultimately culminated in Korpora’s rich and astounding subcollections.

Description: Since poison gas was used during World War I, long-range bombers had been introduced and tensions were rising in Europe, the Air Raid Precautions Act was passed in the Netherlands in 1936. The legislation emphasised individual responsibility for self-protection. This meant that citizens had to buy a gas mask themselves. The Gas Mask Decree (1937) required all gas mask models for Civil Defence units and civilians to be approved by the Dutch State Arsenal. Facepieces and filter canisters had to be marked with the State Acceptance Number and year(s) of approval and production. This paper identifies and describes the gas masks used by police, fire brigades, Civil Defence units and individual citizens, 1931-1940. Three models are heavy, regular Army box respirators, whose filter containers are worn in a haversack on the chest. All the other models are lighter civilian gas masks, with an easily replaceable screw-on filter canister attached to the facepiece. The gas masks were carried in a basic satchel or cylindrical metal case. Two Dutch-made gas masks have a peculiar design: the Veritex gas mask’s facepiece has a swimcap type hood; the Hevea-Electro Model 128 gas mask’s facepiece has no outlet valve. Air is inhaled and exhaled through the filter canister.

Description: Die USA ächzen unter eisiger Kälte bis hinunter in den Süden von Texas. Mindestens dreißig Menschen kamen ums Leben, Millionen sind ohne Strom. Auch bei uns in Deutschland ist gerade eine Kältewelle vorübergegangen, und im Januar gab es einen historischen Schneesturm in Madrid. Was ist da los?

Description: Historical agreed minimum discharges of river Elbe at the czech-german border profile Hřensko/Schöna Discharges of the river Elbe at the border profile between the Czech Republic and Germany at Hřensko/ Schöna play an essential role for the suitability of the German river section downstream for shipping. A cascade of reservoirs upstream the border profile was mainly built between 1950 and 1964. Since then a significant supplemental low water management at the boarder profile is possible. Although the low wa¬ter control at the German-Czech boarder profile is currently managed by a network of German and Czech institutions the legal basis of this management regime is currently not fully understood. In particular, the question raised weather current management targets for low water supplement can be seen based on still valid German-Czech agreements between the former states German Democratic Republic and Czech Slovakian Socialistic Republic. This report summarizes the chronological follow up of the construction of the Czech reservoir system and the related agreements between the German and Czech site.The authors have assembled the development of the effectively agreed minimum discharges at the border profile ČSSR/GDR at Hřensko/Schöna. The available joint coordination statements between ČSSR and GDR during the period April 1983 and May 1988 were reviewed and compared to the recorded discharges. The capacity for low water supplements at Hřensko/Schöna increased since 1900 from 143,58 Mil. m³ to 2 566,24 Mil. m³ in 2010. The greatest parts of the total storage capacity are located in the Vltava and in the Ohře river basin with storage capacities of 1 894,03 Mil. m³ and 404,35 Mil. m³, respectively. The Vltava cascade is currently managed in a way that a minimum discharge is guaranteed of about 40,0 m³/s at barrage Vrané. This compares to a natural discharge situation with minimum flows between 12,0 to 15,0 m³/s. The barrage system in the Ohře river system can currently ensure minimum discharges of about 8,00 m³/s compared with natural discharges between 1,50 and 2,00 m³/s. The boarder profile at Hřensko/ Schöna is directly affected by the reservoir control in Vltava and Ohře. The GDR made several efforts to agree with the ČSSR on minimum discharge levels for the river Elbe at the border profile at Hřensko/Schöna. After years of negotiations minimum monthly medial discharges (Min MQ month) were defined for a hydrological year starting from November until October. However, these monthly medial values still allowed for shortfalls at the daily scale. Based on the monthly medial values two coordination arrangements were concluded between the ČSSR and the GDR about the supply of minimum discharge at their joint border profile at Hřensko/Schöna. The first started in April, 1983 and was valid till 1990. The agreement was updated and extended in May, 1988 till 2000. The lastly agreed monthly minimum values range between 86,8 m³/s in August and 185,2 m³/s in April. Although an agreement about these values exists, it never had a legally binding character. However, these values are still used as orientation for the control of Czech reservoirs in practise. In the past, the agreed minimum discharges felled only once below the limit. In July 1964, the observed monthly discharge was 89,1 m³/s which is 7.1 m³/s short of the agreed value of 96,2 m³/s. Climate change might lead to a more frequent short fall of the once agreed minimum values. Considering this fact and the informal nature of the current target values for control a new formal framework for the minimum flow regime at the German-Czech boarder might be in the interest of the German water users downstream.

Description: Im Pariser Abkommen haben so gut wie alle Staaten der Erde sich verpflichtet, Anstrengungen zu unternehmen, um den Anstieg der globalen Temperatur auf 1,5 Grad über dem vorindustriellen Niveau zu begrenzen. Am Samstag haben die führenden Klimadiplomaten der USA und Chinas, John Kerry und Xie Zhenhua, in einem gemeinsamen Statement erneut bekräftigt, dass sie ihre Klimaschutzanstrengungen verstärken wollen, um dieses Ziel in Reichweite zu halten.

Description: In den 10 Must-Knows aus der Biodiversitätsforschung legen 45 Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler fundiert und allgemein verständlich Fakten zur biologischen Vielfalt dar. Sie analysieren die komplexen Systeme der Erde, indem sie zehn Schlüsselbereiche hervorheben, von denen wiederum jeder untrennbar mit allen anderen verbunden ist. Sie zeigen Wege auf, um einen weiteren Verlust an Artenvielfalt und Ökosystemen zu stoppen und die biologische Vielfalt zu fördern. Ihr Ziel ist, für Politik und Gesellschaft wissenschaftlich gesicherte Bewertungen der aktuellen Erkenntnisse für bessere politische Entscheidungen und Maßnahmen auf lokaler, regionaler, nationaler und globaler Ebene zur Verfügung zu stellen, um die Vielfalt des Lebens – die Biodiversität – zu erhalten. Dies sind die 10MustKnows 2022: 1. Klima- und Biodiversitätsschutz zusammen verwirklichen 2. Planetare Gesundheit stärken 3. Unsichtbare Biodiversität beachten 4. Biokulturelle Lebensräume fördern 5. Wald nachhaltig nutzen 6. Landwirtschaft umbauen 7. Land und Ressourcen schützen 8. Transnationale Infrastrukturen und Bildung für Nachhaltigkeit 9. Zugang und offene Nutzung von Forschungsdaten sichern 10. Biodiversitätsfreundliche Anreize setzen