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Europe's Battery: the Making of the Alpine Energy Landscape, 1870- 1955

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Europe's Battery: the Making of the Alpine Energy Landscape, 1870- 1955 EUROPE'S BATTERY: THE MAKING OF THE ALPINE ENERGY LANDSCAPE, 1870- 1955 A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History By Marc D. Landry II, M.A. Washington, DC April 2, 2013 Copyright 2013 by Marc D. Landry II All Rights Reserved ii EUROPE'S BATTERY: THE MAKING OF THE ALPINE ENERGY LANDSCAPE, 1870- 1955 Marc D. Landry II, M.A. Thesis Advisor: John R. McNeill, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This study examines the environmental history of hydropower development in the Alps from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. Analyzing government archival files, associational journals, conference proceedings, and published contemporary material from several Alpine countries, it seeks to determine how and why Europeans modified the Alpine landscape to generate hydropower, and to explore the consequences of these decisions. I argue that during this time period, Europeans thoroughly transformed the Alpine environment, creating what I call "Europe's Battery": a gigantic system for storing hydropower and distributing it on a continental scale. This study shows how nineteenth-century innovations in energy technology contributed to a dramatic shift in the perception of the Alps as a landscape of "white coal." It demonstrates how at the outset of electrification, Europeans modified Alpine waterways on an unprecedented scale in order to tap into the power of flowing Alpine water. I show how after the turn of the twentieth century, Europeans took advantage of the unique mountain environment to store water, first by converting existing lakes into reservoirs. The practice countered what was perceived to be the greatest disadvantage of white coal: its climate-influenced inconstancy. This study shows the importance of war, and especially the First World War, in the forging of the new Alpine landscape. Finally, this study illustrates how from the interwar period to the aftermath of the iii Second World War, Europeans put the finishing touches on the new Alpine energy landscape by creating large reservoirs behind dams and feeding Alpine hydroelectricity into a burgeoning European electricity grid. By 1955 the Alps had become one of the most important energy landscapes in Europe. This history of the Alpine energy landscape contributes to a number of historiographical fields. It represents an important chapter in the environmental history of one of the world's most iconic landscapes. It sheds light on the hydroelectric energy transition and shows the environmental impacts of electrification. Finally the history of Europe's Battery illuminates an alternative regional history of energy development and industrialization in Europe, one based on water and electricity and not coal. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would not have been able to complete this project without the aid and support of a number of individuals and institutions. It is a pleasure to thank them, even if what I write here can never do them justice. Georgetown University's BMW Center for German and European Studies and History Department and their wonderful staffs offered every kind of assistance I needed. At Georgetown I benefited from a number of great teachers, including Richard Kuisel, Timothy Beach, Amy Leonard, James Shedel, and Roger Chickering. The latter two kindly pored over my dissertation draft and improved it with their suggestions. My primary advisor John McNeill first interested me in environmental history and was kind enough to adopt me as a student as I veered into the discipline. I appreciate his constant support, and his willingness to model the finer points of the pick and roll defense. These lessons came at one of Georgetown's greatest institutions of all, the History Department's weekly pick-up basketball game. I will sorely miss the game's competition and participants. While researching my dissertation I incurred a number of debts. The German Historical Institute in Washington, DC (GHI) funded a summer archival scouting trip. The staff at the Wacker Chemie AG archive displayed great hospitality during my visit there. Thanks to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for financing an initial research stay in Munich, and Martin Geyer who hosted me while at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich. The staff at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv and the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek stood out for their helpfulness and professionalism. In Austria, Verena Winiwarter and the group at the Institute of Social Ecology made me feel welcome during several stays in Vienna. The staff and administration at the Salzburger Landesarchiv also made a short research stay there very v rewarding. Georg Rigele was kind enough to send me his own work. Thanks go to Helmut Trischler, Ulf Hashagen, and Wilhelm Füßl, who hosted me and supported my research at the Deutsches Museum. I am grateful also for the existence of the Rachel Carson Center (RCC) in Munich, a fantastic place to work on environmental history. Thanks to Christof Mauch, one of the Center's directors, whom I followed from Washington to Munich and who has enriched my life and scholarship on two continents. While at the RCC I benefited from repeated interactions with my cohort of research assistants as well as Uwe Lübken, Frank Uekoetter, Drew Eisenberg, and Reinhold Reith, who invited me to speak at Salzburg University and put me up at his home. Thanks to Thomas Zeller for his helpful comments on my dissertation. Along the way I met a number of people (and their families) whom I'm proud to call friends. Stephen Scala, Tait Keller, Kevin Powers, and Benjamin Francis-Fallon were outstanding colleagues. My memories of times with them will always be conspicuous. In Munich I'm thankful to have met Hannes and Anita Rumer, Andrew Denning, as well as Daniel Gebauer and the gang at Deutsches Museum. Todd, Dave, Seamus, Maggie, and Angus opened their home to us and have done more with their kindness than they can understand. My graduate studies would not have been possible without my family. I am grateful to have recently lucked into such a wonderful family across the pond. Here at home, I hope my grandma is proud of "Deuce." My sisters Erin and Meghann, and my parents Pamela and Marc, have sustained me with a lifetime of love and encouragement. Finally, I would like to express my deepest thanks to Dennis and Evelyn. Denny provided the greatest motivation to help me finish, something I would never have had the chance to do without my Schotz, Evelyn. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 The Alpine Hydroscape ................................................................................................. 17 Chapter One: White Coal ............................................................................................... 25 Evolution of a Water Power Landscape ......................................................................... 26 "Discovering" White Coal ............................................................................................. 36 The Geopolitics of White Coal ...................................................................................... 41 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter Two: Alternating Currents ............................................................................... 50 Isolated Power ................................................................................................................ 52 Sending Power Overland ............................................................................................... 58 Putting the Isar to Work ................................................................................................. 69 The Meaning of Hydroelectricity................................................................................... 77 Locating Alpine Water Power ....................................................................................... 85 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 87 Chapter Three: Pools of Power ...................................................................................... 90 The Mood of the Water .................................................................................................. 92 Hydroelectricity Gaining Traction ............................................................................... 100 The Walchenseewerk ................................................................................................... 105 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 129 Chapter Four: Emergency Power ................................................................................. 131 vii The Miracle of the Southeast ....................................................................................... 134 The Spullersee .............................................................................................................. 145 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 156 Chapter Five: Connecting the Battery.......................................................................... 158 Ascension of
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