Ostfriesen Genealogical Society of America, Genealogical Society for Ostfriesen, Germany

STORM FLOODS

Storm Floods
1,000 Years of Catastrophic Fllods on the Ostfriesian Coast
by Heiner Schroder, translated by OGSA member Gene Janssen

Reviewed by Glenda Garrelts Mattes

When I received my copy of Gene’s translation, I could hardly wait to read it. I had to force myself to go to bed rather than stay up reading. Here in 47 pages were the answers to all my questions about the floods which plagued my ancestors in Ostfriesland. This book came from a series of articles published in the Leer Ostfriesen-Zeitung in late 1997. It is not an easy reading novel, but a work packed full of details.

We have all heard of the 1717 Christmas flood, but did you know that floods are documented back to the year 1164, with the most recent one in 1994? This book gives the story of the conditions which creates these floods and how they have shaped the coastline of Ostfriesland over the centuries. It lets one understand more of the conditions under which these tough ancestors of ours lived and how they recovered after every onslaught of the North Sea to rebuild their homes and build the dikes making them ever higher for protection.

To further your understanding of life in Ostfriesland, this book is a must read - and made all the better by Gene Janssen’s skillful translation. Buy one for yourself or add it to your Christmas list NOW - only 200 copies available!

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