The Recovered Rhine and Its History

Abstract

The Rhine has suffered tremendous changes: from a natural river to a heavily contaminatedone, then through a purification process to a rather clean river in a highly industrializedregion. The river brought wealth into Europe as a motor of global industrialization. An increasein trade and industry was followed by pollution of the river, the sediments, and the fish. Outlinedis the history of the Rhine from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the present, the year 2005. Thechanges in hydrology, the growing industry, and the peak of pollution in the 1970s are described.Then follows the success story of the Rhine, whereby the International Commission of the Protectionof the Rhine, triggered by the Sandoz accident, converted it to a nearly uncontaminated stream.Hopefully another decline in the quality of river water, sediments, flora, and fauna can be prevented.