Swiss Volkskalender of the 18th and 19th Centuries – A New Source of Climate History?

The Volkskalender is one of the earliest printed mass media of the early modern times. Apart from the prognostication and forecasted weather events, articles about the current understanding of weather phenomena, as well as past natural events, were described in the calendar. Therefore, the calendar covers a multidimensional view of the understanding and interpretation of weather at the time. The non-calendrical part has not yet been systematically analysed. This study focuses on the Appenzeller Kalender, one of the most successful and continuous Volkskalender over time. A systematic attempt of collecting measuring data throughout Switzerland only starts in 1863. Consequently, the analysis of proxy data seems reasonable. A quantitative as well as a qualitative approach was chosen for the study. Within the 144 observed years, 1,424 cli- mate- and weather-related entries were counted. The information mainly consists of retrospective, descriptive information, and to a lesser extent forecasts and knowledge on climate- and weather-related topics. Two general developments over time can be observed within the retrospective information: firstly, there is an increase in local and regional data; secondly, an increase in proxy data can be observed. Furthermore, the calendar reflects and discusses extreme natural events and impacts on society. About half of the years, which showed a peak in one of the quantitative analyses (such as number of pages, keywords and clusters), coincide with a reported weather anomaly. The yearly report on seasonal weather does not fulfil the requirements for a time series, as precise information on the measuring place and dates are missing. Therefore, a time series is not feasible. However, the extensive content related to weather and climate provides a detailed picture of the perception of natural events during the period 1722 – 1865 and the change in explanatory patterns over time. Moreover, as the readership and – in the case of the Appenzeller Kalender – also the editors mainly belonged to the farming community, the understanding within the calendar most likely reflected the actual view of its readership at a certain time. This source therefore allows a rare insight into the perception of weather and climate in the broad public.