Verkehrswege und ihre Bedeutung für die Kulturlandschaft

Technikgeschichtliche Entwicklung der Verkehrsmittel 143
Summary
The technological development of the means of transportation and its
influence on the shaping of the cultural landscape
It is undisputed and has been thoroughly investigated that transportation routes
have exercised both a direct and an indirect influence on the shaping of our
cultural landscape . Up to now research in history of technology has hardly considered
the question as to whether, and to what extent, the means of transportation
themselves (carriage, ship, railroad, automobile, etc .) have influenced
alterations in the cultural landscape . The present paper attempts to answer this
question . Conclusive results cannot, however, be presented here es detailed research
has still to be carried out.
On the basis of an investigation in history of technology concerning the development
of the means of transportation I have developed the following theses
1 . An extensive adaptation of the means of transportation to the prevailing conditions
of the landscape came about in the preindustrial era . Speed was likewise
governed by nature (wind, stream, muscle power) .
2 . With the exploitation of new prime movers (steam engine, electric motor, internal
combustation engine) man was freed from that dependence .
3 . The use of such power sources for transportation purposes (railroad, steamboat,
automobile) made far greater speeds possible than in the pre-industrial era .
4 . In order to be able to avail of the greater speed potential, however, a further
development of transportation routes was necessary . From this point onwards,
both components - the means of transportation and transportation routes on land
- reveal an intimate interrelationship with reference to the level of further development
.
5 . Both the railroad and the automobile constitute, together with the track and
road networks, a relatively stable system that has a considerable surface area
requirement and accordingly produces changes in the cultural landscape .
6 . The possibilities of greater speed offered - but by no means imposed - by
technology, coupled with considerations of economy of time, lead to the formation
where possible of straight-line and uninterrupted transportation routes
which, in turn, leads to a directionally-determined alteration of the cultural
landscape .
7 . Moreover, the rapid conquest of space by the new means of transportation led
to the opening up of new possibilities for settlement and, as a result, the arbitrary
settlement of areas that hitherto were predominantly exploited for agriculture or
forestry .
8 . A quantitatively important alteration of the cultural landscape results from the
massive adoption of the new means of transportation . So this is not the result of
technical constraint but rather of the needs of man .