In the Spessart, a low mountain range in central Germany, a feud during the Middle Ages led to the construction of numerous castles in this region. This study analyzes the mutual influence of (paleo-)relief development and medieval building activity using a geomorphological and geoarchaeological multimethod approach to expand the knowledge of human-environmental interactions during this time. For this purpose, GIS-based terrain analysis and geophysical measurements were conducted and combined with sedimentological information to create 1D-3D models of the subsurface and to assess knowledge of the landscape and relief evolution at various medieval castle and mining sites. The interpretation of all these data led to the answering of numerous site-specific questions on various geomorphological, geoarchaeological, geologic, and archaeological topics that have been explored in this work and have greatly increased our knowledge of each study site. In addition to these key contributions to the archaeological and geomorphological interpretation of individual study sites, a quantification of the anthropogenic influence on the relief development was conducted, a generalized model of the influence was derived, and new methodological and interpretative approaches were developed. Overall, this study links geomorphological/geological and (geo-)archaeological investigations at five medieval sites and delivers important information on human-environmental interactions within the Spessart and beyond.

On October 3 1990 Germany's unification brought together a people separated for more than four decades by the division of Europe into hostile blocs, in the aftermath of World War II. This study attempts to review Germany's history and treat, in a concise and objective manner, its dominant social, poltical, economic and military aspects.

This handbook in two volumes synthesises our knowledge about the ecology of Central Europe’s plant cover with its 7000-yr history of human impact, covering Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Based on a thorough literature review with 5500 cited references and nearly 1000 figures and tables, the two books review in 26 chapters all major natural and man-made vegetation types with their climatic and edaphic influences, the structure and dynamics of their communities, the ecophysiology of important plant species, and key aspects of ecosystem functioning. Volume I deals with the forests and scrub vegetation and analyses the ecology of Central Europe’s tree flora, whilst Volume II is dedicated to the non-forest vegetation covering mires, grasslands, heaths, alpine habitats and urban vegetation. The consequences of over-use, pollution and recent climate change over the last century are explored and conservation issues addressed.

A multidecadal cooling is known to have occurred in Europe in the final decades of the sixteenth-century. It is still open to debate as to what might have caused the underlying shifts in atmospheric circulation and how these changes affected societies. This book is the fruit of interdisciplinary cooperation among 37 scientists including climatologists, hydrologists, glaciologists, dendroclimatologists, and economic and cultural historians. The known documentary climatic evidence from six European countries is compared to results of tree-ring studies. Seasonal temperature and precipitation are estimated from this data and monthly mean surface pressure patterns in the European area are reconstructed for outstanding anomalies. Results are compared to fluctuations of Alpine glaciers and to changes in the frequency of severe floods and coastal storms. Moreover, the impact of climate change on grain prices and wine production is assessed. Finally, it is convincingly argued that witches at that time were burnt as scapegoats for climatic change.

This important and insightful book provides, for the first time, a broad presentation of ongoing research into public participation in landscape conservation, management and planning, following the 2000 European Landscape Convention which came into force in 2004. The book examines both the theory of participation and what lessons can be learnt from specific European examples. It explores in what manner and to what extent the provisions for participation in the European Landscape Convention have been followed up and implemented. It also presents and compares different experiences of participation in selected countries from northern, southern, eastern and western Europe, and provides a critical examination of public participation in practice. However, while the book’s focus is necessarily on Europe, many of the conclusions drawn are of global relevance. The book provides a valuable reference for researchers and advanced students in landscape policies and management, as well as for professionals and others interested in land-use planning and environmental management.

This book has been initiated by the workshop on Cultural heritage in changing landscapes, held during the IALE (International Association for Landscape Ecology) European Conference that started in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 200 1 and continued across the Baltic to Tartu, Estonia, in JUly. The papers presented at the workshop have been supported by invited contributions that address a wider range of the cultural heritage management issues and research interfaces required to study cultural landscapes. The book focuses on landscape interfaces. Both the ones we find out there in the landscape and the ones we face while doing research. We hope that this book helps if not to make use of these interfaces, then at least to map them and bridge some of the gaps between them. The editors wish to thank those people helping us to assemble this collection. First of all our gratitude goes to the authors who contributed to the book. We would like to thank Marc Antrop, Mats Widgren, Roland Gustavsson, Marion Pots chin, Barbel Tress, Tiina Peil, Helen Soovali and Anu Printsmann for their quick and helpful advice, opinions and comments during the different stages of editing. Helen Soovali and Anu Printsmann together with Piret Pungas - thank you for technical help.