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This is unbelievably awful: Cologne city archives collapse into a hole in the ground. It is, in fact, a bigger disaster than the fire at Anna Amelia library. Four people are unaccounted for (at least), and it looks as if the archives themselves are a total loss (they poured concrete into the hole, in an attempt to shore things up. This includes a large number of mediaeval religious manuscripts relating to the Rhineland mystics, as well as stuff relating to Heinrich Böll.

... I know. It's rather monstrous to be concerned about that when people are probably dead, but all the same: the manuscripts are a very great loss, too.

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The Deutsche Welle has an article that indicates that at least a part of what was lost is archived on microfilm somewhere in the Black Forest. So while the originals may be lost, it's quite possible that the content is still around.

The big hole is quite shocking to look at, though.

It's good that something's preserved, but I'm fairly sure that large numbers of the mss weren't (a friend of mine is, or was, working on them, and has spent an awful lot of time in that very archive. He was looking rather green today).

Wait and see. Our methods of recovering trashed manuscripts are better than ever before.

While I share the pain, I think it's also a good reminder of all the things we've lost throughout history because of fire, flood, war ... or simply because an abbot decided that something wasn't at all funny ...

That's so sickening to think about -- both the people and the manuscripts. I'm hoping for the best for all concerned.

Yes...

I'm not surprised in a way- after all Cologne is very largely built on the remains of Cologne, with not very stable soil and on a geological fault. Having seen with my own eyes what is under the Dom (namely the remains of a Romanesque cathedral, and several roman houses including intact hypocausts) I would surmise that something has given way.

None the less, you would think they would have, I don't know checked the building and its foundations for structural integrity??

To say nothing of the "pouring in concrete" bit.

Well normally yes, but Cologne can be a bit- well le me put it this way. My husband used to work for Coelner Hofbrau Frueh. They had a Stammhaus in the city centre. They wanted to have something done, so they got the building checked over. When they asked about the foundations they received the reply "What foundations- it doesn't have any..."

Not to mention the man who found the top of a roman burial monument in his cellar- the monument now takes up three floors of the Roemisch Germanisch Museum.

Poke around under Cologne and you'd be amazed what you find.

Now if this was a new building ther was no excuse, but if it was built anytime before about 1960 then I can understand why they weren't necessarily too particular about foundations.

NB This is all assuming that the collapse doesn't have anything to do with the U Bahn tunnel, and also working on the assumption that what faults were discovered were in a "better left alone" category.

I've just managed to read Spiegel Online. Built in 1971- there's no excuse for it happening. I was under the impression that it was a fairly old building and sometimes you just don't know what's underneath, but as it was built so recently there is absolutely no excuse for the collapse.

Cologne may not be the easiest place to build, but that should have been taken into account when plans were drawn up.

The 'bis jetzt isset ümmer jut jegangen' mentality may have something to answer for?

The local authorities have denied it could be anything to do with the U-bahn extension with possibly slightly suspicious speed. I mean, it was an extremely big hole - bigger than, say, a hypocaust would explain.

Very. Good. Point. Eeeep.

What absolutely boggles my mind is that an expert looked at the basement LAST year and told them "Umm, guys? You've got a PROBLEM here." And nothing was done.

Early reports (when I checked yesterday) suggested that there were no casualties, which seemed surprising - I expect that this was a mistranslation from the German.

I don't think that you are alone in thinking about the loss of manuscripts, either.

Well, everyone got out of the archive in time, but there are people unaccounted for from the neighbouring houses, which were also damaged - I expect that's where the confusion came from.

Good Lord, that's altogether awful. And I don't think you're monstrous at all for thinking of the manuscripts. My reaction's much the same, and the archival material's not even related to my field.

(So far as I know--there are apparently Irish manuscripts tucked into archives all over the continent, and them mostly un/undercatalogued, so I might well be wrong.)

It's amazing what isn't catalogued. Which has exciting potential, but is bad when soemthing like this happens.

That is truly a nightmare. People dying and knowledge lost.

Dreadful. Though at least they managed to evacuate the archive, otherwise there might have been even more lives lost.

I still can't quite believe it happened. And, I had the same reaction re. the manuscripts. The thing is, I cannot for the life of me understand how they could continue construction on the new subway tunnel after that nearby church tower turned into the Leaning Tower of Cologne. This should have made people think, but, no.

Because, clearly, nothing that bad could ever happen.

*headdesk*

This is horrible all around, not only for the loss of life but for the loss of history.

Both are diminishing, aren't they (I know, shades of John Donne...)

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