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Architect Herman Sörgel was not convinced by the world he lived in, so he decided to change it. Literally. In the late 1920s he took paper, ruler, incline
Architect Herman Sörgel was not convinced by the world he lived in, so he decided to change it. Literally. In the late 1920s he took paper, ruler, incline and redrawn the planet with more desire than tools and support. Literally. Atlantropa came off the desk, one of the greatest engineering projects conceived in the 20th century.
Today, Sörgel’s ideas may shake any minimally environmentally conscious engineer or politician, but in the first half of the 20th century he reached a certain stalemate. While it never came close to realization, it ignited debate and, like all major projects, garnered supporters, skeptics, and opponents. compliment and mockery.
What exactly did he suggest?
Alright redraw the mediterranean to create a single giant continent that we now know as Europe and Africa. How? Partially dries out Mare Nostrum.
As are.
Architect Herman Sorgel.
What Sörgel suggested was to build massive dams between the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea, with masses that would allow sea level to drop between 100 and 200 meters in a century, a good pinch if we take into account the average depth of the Mediterranean. It is around 1,500 m and in the Strait of Gibraltar the figure ranges from 280 for Umbral de Camarinal to 900 for Algeciras.
Because of its location, as a gateway to the Atlantic, the largest of these massive concrete giants would be found in Gibraltar. There Sörgel reflected – he remembers pioneer– a dam It is crowned by a 400-foot glass and steel skyscraper that is even larger than the Empire State Building.
The Strait of Gibraltar would not be the only mass in the Mediterranean.
The maps drawn by the German architect envision nearly a dozen hydroelectric power stations spread over strategic points such as the Dardanelles or the Suez Canal. According to Sörgel’s calculations, the turbines are large amount of energy That Europe and Africa can be procured and hundreds of thousands of jobs can be created.
In addition to mega dams, he designed new infrastructures to improve communication between Europe and Africa, such as a tunnel in the Strait of Gibraltar and road and rail links. Mare Nostrum’s physiognomy after brutal drying will help to plant the area and unite populations. As the water level dropped, it was expected, for example, that Sicily would connect to the Italian continental strip and Majorca and Menorca would join.
If the Pharaoh project had received the necessary support and had been implemented, our maps today would be very different. To begin with, we would reclaim about 660,200 square kilometers, which is more from the sea than the surface of Ukraine, and the Mediterranean would be divided into two basins: one with a depth of less than 100 meters and the other 200 meters. To irrigate the Sahara and create new fertile lands.
“A second artificially created ‘Nile’ in West Africa will irrigate and make the Sahara Desert fertile, while Congo and Chad will be dammed to create vast inland seas of almost a million square kilometers! Geopolitical project of supremacy!!”, 2018′ explains an article from the Deutsches Museum, which is preparing an exhibition with documents from de Atlantropa.
We would probably be experiencing its most damaging consequences as well. The brutal modification of the Mediterranean that Sörgel proposes draft environmental impactwill cause flooding in other low-lying parts of the world and expose the region to natural disasters such as earthquakes. The economic impact on some ports will also be enormous.
A recreation of what part of the Mediterranean would have been if Atlantropa had been developed.
The big question at this point is: Why? What prompted Sörgel to recommend Atlantropa?
Although the German architect was a child of his time and had a clear colonial vision, the curious thing is that his main goal was not to gain power or wealth. Or at least not alone. His project was born in the interwar period—while still vivid memories of World War I and Nazism rise—and what he sought was, in a way, this: prevent another war disaster.
With its enormous size, Atlantropa will help create new jobs, reduce unemployment, secure energy supply and attract investments that cannot be used for a new war. Geopolitically, the new supercontinent will help balance the powers and consolidate the weight of Europe and Africa on the international board against other powers such as Asia or the USA.
The huge hydroelectric power plants in the Mediterranean will also be controlled by a new independent international body, giving it a special power position when it comes to it. punish the nations who was particularly fighter. Ultimately, the architect wanted to promote world peace through technology, not politics.
The project actually caught the attention of the UN, and although it had significant supporters, including famous architects and artists, prominent leaders opposed it. Nazi commanders were among those who had not seen Sörgel’s proposal or the architect himself, who was married to a woman of Jewish origin.
His project died with him at the end of 1952, when he died prematurely after a serious accident while cycling to a conference at a German university.
remains one today great utopian proposals 20th century.
Pictures | Deutsches Museum and Wikipedia
Source: Xataka
Alice Smith is a seasoned journalist and writer for Div Bracket. She has a keen sense of what’s important and is always on top of the latest trends. Alice provides in-depth coverage of the most talked-about news stories, delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles that keep her readers informed and engaged.
