Weather shooting

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International congress on hail shooting, 1901

As weather shooting is known to influence the formation of precipitates by burning explosives. The aim of the measures was either to avert or to induce precipitation. Shooting was first introduced out of superstition, later out of belief in a physical effect. The effect could not be proven with any of the methods.

Regions

Shooting to avoid storms has been proven in many European regions, including Bavaria, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Carniola, Dalmatia, Veneto, Hungary and southern France.

Shooting out of superstition

The background is the idea that mythical creatures such as gods , witches or demons are responsible for the weather. Indigenous peoples of America held ritual dances to bring rain. Herodotus reports of the Thracians that they threatened their god with arrows shot in the sky during a thunderstorm . The Gauls and other peoples did the same . Shortly after the birth of Christ, Pliny the Elder , a Roman scholar, described a large number of measures to ward off thunderstorm demons.

In Europe you can find weather crosses and weather churches in many places, mainly on mountain ridges , from where storms like to approach. The weather ringing , and church bells were rung, was a common practice. The crosses and bells had to be rededicated from time to time so that they would not lose their power. It was thought that if the sound of bells could dispel clouds of weather, how much more effective must the shot from a weapon be; especially in connection with consecrated powder or projectiles.

Church and popular belief were of the opinion that weather witches or weather demons were responsible for storms. The weather-making demons also manifested themselves physically in legends and worlds of thought. The people were convinced that they could be brought down from the sky with targeted shots or that they would be thrown out of the clouds by roaring . These stories were supported by reports that, for example, a ringed finger fell out of the clouds.

The people tried to odor or hearing directly influence the weather demons and drive them by. Weapons, such as crossbows and their arrows or later rifles , were often blessed by the pastor right before they were used . It also happened that the churchmen shot themselves. Consecrated powder and ammunition were often used for shooting , including balls of wax with crosses scratched into them, or even with old horseshoe nails . Sometimes names were called with every shot, and if the name of a weather witch was guessed, it was said that she fell dead out of the clouds.

Shooting out of superstition gradually changed in the course of the 18th century, in the wake of the Enlightenment . But it was difficult to stamp out. It is difficult to establish until when these practices lasted, probably until the middle or the end of the 19th century.

Shooting based on belief in physical effects

After shooting out of superstition, shooting out of belief in a physical effect can be called the second great wave. Physical objects were also seen as a cause of severe weather. It was believed that tall buildings attracted thunderstorms. Based on this, for example, in 1731 the Bavarian government allowed weather shooting to remain permitted “because the tall towers and buildings there attract the clouds and shooting often breaks them up” ( Prokop von Freyberg : Pragmatic History of Bavarian Legislation and State Administration since the times of Maximilian I. . ) Rivers were also known as "magnets for thunderstorms", so shooting was common on the Isar and Inn, for example .

Many theories have been developed to explain the effects of shooting. A Peter Guden published in 1774 that the shooting of bullets from an ordinary shotgun lures the lightning from the cloud and thus the thunderstorm can discharge. Or firing multiple shots in a row could create a wind. PP Heinrich calculated around 1788 from the amount of powder and the artillery the achieved gas volume that would be influenced in the sky.

The recipe for a physical effect seemed very simple: the stronger the bullet, the stronger its effect. Crossbows were replaced by cannons. According to ancient physics, it was said that the "shot" air drifted upwards from below, preventing thunderstorms from reaching deeper regions. When ignited, there was a detonation on the one hand, and a vortex ring on the other, "similar to the smoke rings of smokers, which rotates and whistles like a projectile at great speed." ( Dr. Wilh. Trabert : Hagelwetter, und Wettererschießen ) It became scientific Experiments carried out to make the strength of the resulting air pressure visible and measurable. The aim was to find out whether sound or air vortex ring is the most effective.

The heyday of this second wave was around the last quarter of the 19th century. A final trigger for this was the activity of the mayor of Windisch-Freistriz (today Slovenska Bistrica ), Albert Stiger. This began in 1896 with experiments with attached horns and constructed the so-called "combined" firecrackers from them. He initially used locomotive smoke catchers as a bell. In 1898 he published a booklet about it. His prominent position as mayor caused many imitators, so that at times the locomotive smokers were sold out. The Greinitz company from Graz manufactured special bell trumpets . Around 1900 the newest shooting devices had a conical iron tube of 4 m and a top diameter of about 10 cm. It was calculated that, thanks to the funnels, the sound waves were over 2 km high and thus reached higher than most hail clouds. At the turn of the 20th century, gunfire using gunpowder cannons was considered the ultimate in storm protection measures. Even if the physical success could not be proven, it was a financial success for Albert Stiger and the Greinitz company. They published that a network of several combined firecrackers would be particularly successful. In an average summer, this resulted in 600,000 shots in a municipality, which corresponded to a value of 24,000 guilders. The process was used in several thousand stations in Styria and Northern Italy. According to the Brockhaus from 1911, a weather cannon would protect around 1 square kilometer from hail .

In 1907 an article was published by an author who was formerly interested in shooting. The article was titled "The End of Weather Shooting" and from then on its use fell significantly.

Prohibitions

Weather shooting has been banned several times over the centuries and has been restarted. There was always resistance to the bans in the population. The people saw themselves threatened with famine if the harvest were exposed to thunderstorms and hail defenseless. Even draconian punishments couldn't help. All bans were followed by reports with requests for exceptions.

Around 1750, Empress Maria Theresa banned this practice in Styria and Carinthia. In 1785, Emperor Joseph II banned it again and made it subject to heavy penalties. An Austrian regulation from 1786 renewed and tightened the ban again, now with "severe corporal punishment". For example, the 18 iron firecrackers had to be delivered from the Voirrthurm in Mühldorf to Salzburg to ensure that the ban was followed. After priests refused to consecrate the powder after the ban, it was secretly brought to the Easter consecration, hidden under ham and bread. The practices were again banned at the beginning of the 19th century. A traveler in Carinthia reported: "Various ordinances [...] have been published against shooting, but they are just as little enforced as those on shooting on Corpus Christi [...]."

doubt

As old as the practices themselves are the doubts about their effectiveness. The effect was undetectable and therefore controversial. Scientific research later showed that the projectiles did not reach up to the clouds. In 1785, the philosophical class at the Munich Academy asked a 50 ducat prize question: “What effect does firing the gun have on weather clouds? What does experience teach with regard to the different locations? Is it to be introduced as a remedy against the weather and hail damage, or as dangerous to ban your own and neighboring corridors? ”This is just one example of the efforts to prove its effectiveness. Also in the 18th century, physics professor P. Joseph Weber from Dillingen made derogatory comments about the weather shooting for physical reasons. He compared the effect of the weather shooting with a bellows: "The man would be laughed at who wanted to remove the fog from the horizon with a bellows, but the calculation shows that the impression of a cannonade on distant clouds is not stronger [...]." ( Joseph Weber : Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz ) Georg Wilhelm Poezinger , mathematician at the University of Erlangen, published in 1749 that at the height at which the clouds are located, the air waves no longer have a large amplitude . Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben wrote in 1748 in the beginnings of the theory of nature : If the thunder of the cannons should drive the clouds away, one wonders, "why the thunderstorm's own thunder could not do it just as well."

Not only the questionable effect spoke against the weather shooting, but also financial reasons. The costs consisted of material costs for powerful weapons, powder and ammunition, as well as salaries for trained men who also knew how to shoot in the right direction. Furthermore, there were not suitable elevated places everywhere. There was also the assumption that storms were shot back and forth from one place to another. This often led to disputes among neighboring towns. The shooting was sometimes even attributed to the opposite effect, so it was said in 1731 "strong, pulling clouds [...] are held [by shooting], collect and empty themselves all the more violently." ( Prokop von Freyberg : Pragmatic History of Bavarian Legislation and State Administration since the time of Maximilian I. )

There were congresses of those interested in weather shooting, one in Italy and three international ones. With over 1000 participants, the congresses were well attended. In terms of content, reports were mainly about the successes of the weather shooting, for failures there were mostly supposed explanations. In Granz, Austria, an "International Expert Conference on Weather Shooting" was held in 1902. Experts from Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia and Hungary took part. Only two questions were up for discussion: “1. Is the weather shooting effective or not? 2. If a final judgment cannot yet be given, what should be done in the future and how to proceed? ”Satisfactory results could not be achieved here either.

Making rain

In 1891 the American Robert G. Dyrenforth carried out weather experiments with a team in Texas . His aim was to bring rain into the dry area. They raised a balloon filled with hydrogen to an altitude of around 2000 m. Then dragons prepared with dynamite were lit. The Washington Post reported on August 20, 1891 that air pressure dropped and it began to rain. Lucien I. Blake, professor of physics and electromechanics at Kansas State Agricultural College, questioned the conclusion that the effect was due to the explosion that same year. Rather, he suspected that the smoke particles had a greater effect.

Modern times

In the Cold War between the then Soviet Union and the USA, both sides hoped to gain advantages through a “weather war”. The so-called " cloud vaccination " method is controversial in terms of its actual effectiveness . For this purpose, explosives are no longer used, mainly silver iodide . Clouds are shot at with the help of rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns whose projectiles are filled with silver iodide.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Brockhaus' Kleines Konversations-Lexikon, fifth edition, volume 2. Leipzig 1911., pp. 976–977, online view
  2. ↑ a b c d e Richard Strele: Weather ringing and weather shooting . In: Journal of the German and Austrian Alpine Club . tape 29 . Munich 1898, p. 141 .
  3. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 1 .
  4. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 3 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Margarethe Ruff Magic Practices as a Help in Life: Magic in Everyday Life from the Middle Ages to Today , Campus Verlag, 2003, p. 117
  6. ^ A b Ludwig von Hörmann Tiroler Volksleben , Stuttgart 1909, pp. 121–127
  7. ^ Richard Strele: Weather ringing and weather shooting . In: Journal of the German and Austrian Alpine Club . tape 29 . Munich 1898, p. 140 .
  8. ↑ a b Georg Graber, Sagen aus Kärnten, Graz 1941, online view
  9. ^ Gunter Bakay, Petra Streng with the assistance of Erhard Berger: Tiroler Wettergeschichten . Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 2000, ISBN 3-7066-2173-8 , chap. Weather shooting , p. 190 .
  10. ↑ a b c d Richard Strele: Weather ringing and weather shooting . In: Journal of the German and Austrian Alpine Club . tape 29 . Munich 1898, p. 142 .
  11. ^ Gunter Bakay, Petra Streng with the assistance of Erhard Berger: Tiroler Wettergeschichten . Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 2000, ISBN 3-7066-2173-8 , chap. Weather shooting , p. 191 .
  12. ^ Gunter Bakay, Petra Streng with the assistance of Erhard Berger: Tiroler Wettergeschichten . Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 2000, ISBN 3-7066-2173-8 , chap. Weather shooting , p. 192 .
  13. ^ A b c d Pragmatic history of Bavarian legislation and state administration since the times of Maximilian I .: 2, Maximilian from official sources edited by Prokop von Freyberg, publisher Wilhelm Reichel, 1836, p. 250, online view
  14. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 16 .
  15. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 17 .
  16. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 16 .
  17. ^ A b Gunter Bakay, Petra Streng with the collaboration of Erhard Berger: Tiroler Wettergeschichten . Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 2000, ISBN 3-7066-2173-8 , chap. Weather shooting , p. 192 .
  18. ↑ a b c Dr. Wilh. Trabert Hagel wetter, und Wetterschießen , lecture, held February 14, 1900, p. 139, online view
  19. ↑ Dr. Wilh. Trabert Hagel wetter, und Wetterschießen , lecture, held February 14, 1900, p. 140, online view
  20. ↑ Dr. Wilh. Trabert Hagelwetter, und Wetterschießen , lecture, held February 14, 1900, p. 142, online view
  21. ^ A b Gunter Bakay, Petra Streng with the collaboration of Erhard Berger: Tiroler Wettergeschichten . Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 2000, ISBN 3-7066-2173-8 , chap. Weather shooting , p. 193 .
  22. ^ A b c Gunter Bakay, Petra Streng with the assistance of Erhard Berger: Tiroler Wettergeschichten . Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 2000, ISBN 3-7066-2173-8 , chap. Weather shooting , p. 195 .
  23. ↑ http://www.hagelabwehr.com/index.php?id=108
  24. ↑ a b Dr. Wilh. Trabert Hagelwetter, und Wetterschießen , lecture, held February 14, 1900, p. 138, online view
  25. ↑ a b c Dr. Wilh. Trabert Hagel wetter, und Wetterschießen , lecture, held February 14, 1900, p. 136, online view
  26. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 12 .
  27. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 13 .
  28. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 10 .
  29. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 8 .
  30. ^ Lueger, Otto: Lexicon of the entire technology and its auxiliary sciences, Vol. 4 Stuttgart, Leipzig 1906., pp. 752-753, online view
  31. ↑ a b DER SPIEGEL 52/1999 weather shooting , online view , accessed on May 19, 2017
  32. ↑ a b Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 5 .
  33. ↑ a b Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 7 .
  34. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. 6 .
  35. ↑ Salzburg intelligence sheet against the weather shooting , 1797, Verlag d. Oberdeutsche Staatszeitung, page 346
  36. ↑ a b Salzburg Intelligence Gazette Against Weather Shooting , 1797, Verlag d. Oberdeutschen Staatszeitung, page 347
  37. ^ Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. I .
  38. ↑ http://www.hagelabwehr.com/index.php?id=108
  39. ↑ a b Report on the international expert conference for weather shooting in Graz . In: Yearbook of the kk Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus . Attachment. tape 39 . Großmann, Munich 1902, p. I .
  40. ↑ Kristine C. Harper Make It Rain: State Control of the Atmosphere in Twentieth-Century America , University of Chicago Press, March 21, 2017, p. 19, online view
  41. ↑ James Rodger Fleming Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control , Columbia University Press, Dec. 2, 2011, p. 73
  42. ↑ World - Harald Czycholl Rain at the push of a button , published on September 10, 2016, online view , accessed on May 19, 2017
  43. ^ Johann Werfring: Against rain and hail In: Wiener Zeitung of August 21, 2008, supplement ProgrammPunkte , p. 7