„Müh’ und Plag’, Spaß und Freud’“

Zur Wahrnehmung von Schnee

Abstract

Snow is a phenomenon of climate as well as a cultural construction, it is reality as well as imagination. How people perceive and imagine snow is influenced by many different aspects and values. This study uses selected autobiographical texts from different historical periods and geographical regions to analyze the perception of snow. US-American nineteenth century diaries of participants in the wagon trains westwards, early twentieth century memoirs of Alpine farmers, and WWI and WWII soldiers’ diaries and letters are examples of sources analyzed. Almost all these texts show a high degree of ambivalence, describing both the hardship connected with snow and its aesthetical value, the beauty of snow. More recent documents give evidence of the economic importance of snow in winter tourism, sports, and Christmas commerce: snow imageries trigger sublime feelings, nos- talgic emotions, and childhood memories of snow.