Postwar Changes in Land Use in Former West Germany and the Increased Number of Inland Floods

In recent years, the number of inland floods in Germany has increased markedly. Developments along the River Rhine can be taken as an example. Recordings taken in Cologne since 1895, cited in [1] and [2], show that six of the 12 most extreme stages have occurred since 1983. A number of factors, such as climatic changes and hydraulically adverse development in the Rhine’s flood plain and catchment area, have been suggested as explanations for the increased number of extreme stages and floods in recent years. However, these factors alone cannot satisfactorily explain the change in the river discharge regime.