Fatal floods rage through central Europe

Surging floodwaters sweep away entire villages across German-speaking lands

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On the feast day of St Mary Magda-lene in 1342, the heavens opened over Würzburg with unrelenting fury. What had begun as a whisper in the summer air was thundering like a wild beast. The skies, heavy with storm and menace, unleashed a monstrous deluge that came to be known as Magdalenenhochwasser – the Magdalene Flood.

On and around 21/22 July, the downpour swept across a region today largely spanning southern Germany, drenching the valleys of the Main, Danube, Rhine and Elbe rivers. Weeks of dry heat had baked the soil hard; now the rainfall struck it like a hammer on stone. Water raced across the unyielding ground, forming torrents that tore deep gouges into hillsides. Whole slopes gave way, dragging trees, animals and dwellings into the seething waters below.

Villages were swallowed whole. In Meissen, the Elbe rose with terrifying speed, its waters climbing higher than any could recall. Townsfolk clambered onto rooftops and towers, clutching icons and each other, praying for mercy amid the din. Monasteries lost treasured manuscripts; vineyards and fields - ripe with the promise of a bountiful harvest - vanished beneath a tide of brown, debris-laden water.