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Offermann, Martin; Hein, Michael; Werther, Lukas; Zielhofer, Christoph: Early modern text-based dataset of demography, economy, social and environmental crises from the Mulde River system, Germany [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.996459 (dataset in review)

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Abstract:
This dataset compiles historical socio-economic, demographic and hydrological records from between 1611 CE to 1800 CE to provide contextual information for primary-source data on salmon catches in the Mulde catchment and the German Elbe river system. Local economic conditions are represented by a historical series of market prices for "grain" (Korn, probably rye), selected because it offers the highest temporal density among the available grain-price records. The series was compiled from Kamprad's annals by Schellenberg and extended to 1841, with reporting intervals ranging from 0.2 to 16 years (mean approximately four years). Prices recorded in Thaler, Gulden, Groschen and Pfennig were standardised as decimal Gulden. Demographic conditions were reconstructed from annual baptism and burial records of St Mary's Church, which provide numbers of births and deaths for 1637–1841; earlier records were destroyed in the city fire of 1637. A deaths-to-births ratio was calculated as measure of excess mortality. Reports of city fires, food-supply crises and disease outbreaks were additionally extracted from local chronicles. Historical flood and drought events were compiled from published datasets and chronicles covering the Mulde sub-catchment, the German reaches of the Elbe and other Elbe tributaries. These records were collected to document socio-environmental conditions potentially relevant to the operation and maintenance of salmon-catching infrastructure and to longitudinal river connectivity.
Keyword(s):
Biodiversity; Early Modern Period; Elbe River; Fluvial Anthroposphere; Historical Ecology; historical records; Mulde; Salmo salar; Socio-natural drivers
Supplement to:
Offermann, Martin; Hein, Michael; Liebscher, Erik; Wolter, Christian; Werther, Lukas; Zielhofer, Christoph (in prep.): Early modern text-based evidence of salmon stock decline and potential socio-natural drivers in the Mulde River system (Germany).
Related to:
Henke, Yamuna; Hegemann, Ronja; Offermann, Martin; Hein, Michael; Rabiger-Völlmer, Johannes; Zielhofer, Christoph (2025): Gridded habitat ranges of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) gathered from historical sources [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.974401
Offermann, Martin; Hein, Michael; Hegemann, Ronja; Gödecke, Kay; Hegner, Lucas; Henke, Yamuna; Schäfer, Nele; Shelukhina, Hanna; Liebscher, Erik; Opel, S; Rabiger-Völlmer, Johannes; Werther, Lukas; Zielhofer, Christoph (2025): Eco-morphological changes and potential salmon habitat suitability since pre-industrial times in the Mulde River system (Germany). E&G - Quaternary Science Journal, 74, 325-354, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-325-2025
Offermann, Martin; Hein, Michael; Liebscher, Erik; Werther, Lukas; Zielhofer, Christoph (in prep.): Early modern text-based evidence of salmon stocks and potential socio-natural drivers in the Mulde River system (Germany): the basic dataset.
Offermann, Martin; Liebscher, Erik; Werther, Lukas; Zielhofer, Christoph: Early modern text-based dataset of salmon stocks and socio-natural drivers in the Mulde River system, Germany [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.996457
Source:
Arnold, Paul (1980): Die sächsische Talerwährung von 1500 bis 1763. Published in Schweizerische numismatische Rundschau, 59, 50-94
Geißler, Carl (1829): Chronik der Stadt Eilenburg und der Umgebung, Delitzsch.
Hegemann, Ronja; Offermann, Martin; Hein, Michael; Rabiger-Völlmer, Johannes; Zielhofer, Christoph (2025): Historical salmon (Salmo salar) catches in the Elbe catchment since the 16th century according to historical sources and recent catch data [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.974369
Hingst, Carl Wilhelm (1878): Die Verheerungen der Pest in und um Leisnig vom 15. bis 17. Jahrhundert, Mitteilungen des Geschichts- und Altertumsvereins zu Leisnig. 5, 16-28
Kamprad, Johann (1753): Leisnigker Chronica, oder Beschreibung der sehr alten Stadt Leisnigk. Printed by Gottfried Zimmermann, Leisnig
Schellenberg, Ferdinand (1842): Chronik der Stadt Leisnig und ihrer Umgegend. Printed by Brandmair, Leisnig
Simon, Jeremias (1696): Eilenburgische Chronica, Oder Beschreibung Der sehr alten Burg, Schlosses und Stadt Eilenburg, Leipzig.
von Mildenstein, Eduard (1857): Chronik der Stadt Leisnig, Leisnig.
Würdig, Ludwig (1876): Chronik der Stadt Dessau: Von den frühesten Zeiten bis Ende 1875 [webpage]. Internet Archive [Assessed 2024-07-12], https://archive.org/details/chronikderstadtd00wruoft/page/46/mode/2up
Coverage:
Median Latitude: 51.202071 * Median Longitude: 12.886833 * South-bound Latitude: 51.157430 * West-bound Longitude: 12.243072 * North-bound Latitude: 51.830996 * East-bound Longitude: 12.927900
Date/Time Start: 1437-01-01T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2012-01-01T00:00:00
Event(s):
Historical_salmon_catches_Site_20 (Site_20) * Latitude: 51.830996 * Longitude: 12.243072 * Date/Time Start: 1630-01-01T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2012-01-01T00:00:00 * Location: Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany * Method/Device: Literary studies (LIT) * Comment: Coordinates of place mentioned, not specific location. From written source.
Historical_salmon_catches_Site_125 (Site_125) * Latitude Start: 51.157430 * Longitude Start: 12.927900 * Latitude End: 51.157430 * Longitude End: 12.927900 * Date/Time Start: 1437-01-01T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 1769-01-01T00:00:00 * Location Start: Leisnig, Saxony, Germany * Location End: Leisnig, Saxony, Germany * Method/Device: Literary studies (LIT)
Historical_salmon_catches_Site_127 (Site_127) * Latitude Start: 51.465000 * Longitude Start: 12.661000 * Latitude End: 51.465000 * Longitude End: 12.661000 * Date/Time Start: 1616-01-01T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 1772-01-01T00:00:00 * Location Start: Eilenburg, Saxony, Germany * Location End: Eilenburg, Saxony, Germany * Method/Device: Literary studies (LIT)
Parameter(s):
#NameShort NameUnitPrincipal InvestigatorMethod/DeviceComment
1Event labelEventOffermann, Martin
2IdentificationIDOffermann, Martin
3LATITUDELatitudeOffermann, MartinGeocode
4LONGITUDELongitudeOffermann, MartinGeocode
5Year of observationYear obsa ADOffermann, Martin
6Year of observationYear obsa ADOffermann, Martin
7LocationLocationOffermann, Martin
8Number of birthsBirths#Offermann, Martin
9Number of birthsBirths#Offermann, Martin
10Birth/death ratioBirth/deathOffermann, Martin
11Cost of grain, per bushelCost/bushel grainThalerOffermann, Martin
12Cost of grain, per bushelCost/bushel grainGroschenOffermann, Martin
13Cost of grain, per bushelCost/bushel grainGuldenOffermann, Martin
14Cost of grain, per bushelCost/bushel grainGuldenOffermann, Martinaverage total; calculated by 1:21:252 ratio between Guldens:Groschens:Pfennigs and 1:24:288 ratio between Thalers:Groschens:Pfennigs; Arnold (1980)
15Fire eventFire eventOffermann, Martincity fire mentioned in source
16Drought eventDrought eventOffermann, Martin
17Plague eventPlague eventOffermann, Martin
18Disease severityDisease sevOffermann, Martindysentery
19Flood eventFlood eventOffermann, Martinin spring
20Flood eventFlood eventOffermann, Martinsummer; severity: 1: low, 2: medium, 3: high
21Flood eventFlood eventOffermann, Martinautumn; severity: 1: low, 2: medium, 3: high
22Flood eventFlood eventOffermann, Martinwinter; severity: 1: low, 2: medium, 3: high
23Ice presenceIceOffermann, Martinice drift; severity: 1: low, 2: medium, 3: high
24RiverRiverOffermann, Martin
25Reference/sourceReferenceOffermann, Martin
26Reference/sourceReferenceOffermann, Martinsheet or page number
27TypeTypeOffermann, Martinprimary or secondary source/reference type
28ReplicateReplOffermann, Martin0: data only mentioned in one reference; 1: data mentioned in multiple references
29CommentCommentOffermann, Martin
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0) (License comes into effect after moratorium ends)
Status:
Curation Level: Enhanced curation (CurationLevelC)
Size:
3657 data points

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