1817 and 1861, and through which it was possible to compile a statistical and cartographic census of natural spaces and of the socio-economic conditions of the Habsburg monarchy in the first half of the 19th century.
Joëlle Rochas, The influences of German naturalists and cabinets of
wonders on the genesis of the Cabinet of Natural History
of Grenoble (1773-1839)
Research into history and botany has already highlighted the importance of
Italy in the genesis of the Natural History Cabinet of Grenoble (France) during
the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the influence of German countries on the
predecessor of the current Natural History Museum of Grenoble is much less
known. As a matter of fact, naturalists from the Dauphiné and German scientists
were talking to each other from very early on. As a consequence, a lot of mutual
influences can be observed in their works. Dominique Villars (1745-1814),
the doctor and botanist who created from Grenoble a huge scientists’ network
throughout Europe, blended all these influences together. In 1786, he wrote
the History of plants of Dauphiné (Histoire des plantes de Dauphiné), the first
description of the flora of Dauphiné.
Ingeborg Schmid-Mummert, Light and shadows.
Risk management in alpine mountaineering in the 19th century
Since they were first founded in the middle of the 19th century (1854), Alpine
associations and clubs contributed to boosting the development of the high Alps.
As a result, an increasingly wider range of people were attracted to climbing,
and so alpinism proper began. Concurrently, athletic alpine climbers sought
further challenges, more and more difficult rock faces and ridges, steering away
from the anonymity of mass tourism. This phenomenon kindled discussions and
debates on the dangers and risks of alpinism, and on the meaning (reasonable
and unreasonable) of the practice of alpine climbing. When accidents occur in
the mountains, especially lethal ones, the public is alerted and sits up. While a
disapproving or censuring attitude, not least expressed in the media, condemns
them as unsafe leisure activities, another parallel mechanism also kicks in, which
transforms the death of a mountain climber into a heroic, a mythical feat.
