1872 Baltic Sea flood ravages the Baltic coast
- When
- 1872–1874
- Where
- Baltic Sea coast; Damerow (named locality; exact site not given in sources)
- Episodes
- 2
The 1872 Baltic Sea flood, a storm surge occurring on the night of 12–13 November 1872, devastated the coast from Denmark to Pomerania and affected Sweden. It was the worst surge in the Baltic until that time, causing significant loss of life and property damage.
Episodes
- 1872 Baltic Sea Flood
A storm surge on 12–13 November 1872 caused severe flooding and damage along the Baltic coast from Denmark to Pomerania.
- Abandonment of Damerow
The village of Damerow was abandoned following a subsequent flood in February 1874 that destroyed remaining structures.
Background and detail
Background. Prior to the event, a southwest storm drove sea levels towards Finland and Balticum. Because water could not flow back quickly into the North Sea, huge waves caught coastal dwellers by surprise on the morning of 13 November 1872, resulting in floods over a metre high in coastal towns and villages.
Impact. The flood resulted in at least 271 deaths on the Baltic coast, including 32 in Mecklenburg and West Pomerania. Approximately 2,850 houses were destroyed or badly damaged, leaving 15,160 people homeless. The highest recorded peak water level was about 3.3 m above sea level.
Aftermath. In 1874, the Prerow-Strom was filled in and protected with a dyke, making Zingst a peninsula. Following a further flood in February 1874, which destroyed remaining buildings and left a layer of sand up to 60 cm thick, the village of Damerow was abandoned.
Sources
- 1872 Baltic Sea flood Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-20
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.