The Raw Force of Nature – a Flood in the Prättigau

“The wild Landquart roars through the valley in storming flight;

On either side the green mountains rise,

With villages, gardens, farms and alpine pastures manifold,

And in between, fields and meadows, trees, rock and forest.”

In 1844, the poet and linguist Alfons von Flugi describes the Prättigau valley as a lovely landscape, yet even in his poem the river Landquart already swells with a threatening roar. In fact, the river repeatedly devastated the valley floor of the Prättigau. And in June 1910, a flood occurred whose effects are still remembered today – not least because of the photographs taken at the time.

The flooding was due to heavy rainfall which caused the tributaries and the Landquart itself to rise rapidly. The floodwaters ravaged residential areas, swept away bridges, and destroyed several sections of the railway line. Photographs preserved in the Staatsarchiv Graubünden and the Rätisches Museum in Chur vividly document the sheer force of this natural event.