Evariste Vital Luminais: Flight of King Gradlon

Painting from 1884 depicting the flight of the king from the sinking city of Ys.

France; 19. Century; Chistian; Painting; City: Ys

Detlev von Liliencron (1844-1909): Trutz Blanke Hans

Ein einziger Schrei – die Stadt ist versunken,
Und Hunderttausende sind ertrunken.
Wo gestern noch Lärm und lustiger Tisch,
Schwamm andern Tags der stumme Fisch.
Heut bin ich über Rungholt gefahren,
Die Stadt ging unter vor sechshundert Jahren.
Trutz, Blanke Hans?

(Excerpt)

full text and info:
https://www.deutschland-lese.de/streifzuege/balladen/trutz-blanke-hans/

Germany; 19. Century; Christian; Poetry; City: Rungholt

The little Hero of Haarlem

Apparently an anglo-american invention, this story about the boy who rescues a Dutch city by sticking his finger in a hole in the dyke, has been republished in various versions since the mid 1800s . This is the earliest published version of the story and it starts with the words, ” A long way off, across the ocean, there is a little country where the ground is lower than the level of the sea…”

full text

Gustave Doré: The New Zealander

Last image from Gustave Doré‘s Book “London – A Pilgrimage” (1872). Detailed Information.

France; 19. Century; Christian; Illustration; City: London

Franz Karl Basler-Kopp (1879–1937): Der Schimmelreiter

German painter Basler-Kopp painted two images in 1924 after Thodor Storm’s novel “Rider on the White Horse” one of the best knows examples of German literary realism of late 19. Century. Contrary ot the genre of the text, these images are clearly rooted in romanticism but also show the influence of early expressionism. (Basler-Kopp was best knwon for his fairytale illustrations.) They give a good example of the allure of flooding and extreme coastal weather events had on the visual arts at the time.