Books by Stefano Condorelli
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Few financial crises, historically speaking, have attracted such attention as the Mississippi and... more Few financial crises, historically speaking, have attracted such attention as the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles of 1719–20. The twin bubbles had major economic and political implications, sending shock waves through the whole of Europe; they astonished contemporaries, and, to a large extent, they still resonate today. This volume offers new readings of these events, drawing on fresh research and new evidence that challenge traditional interpretations. The chapters engage, in particular, with:
- the geographical frame of the 1719-20 bubbles
- their social, cultural, economic and political impact
- the ways in which contemporaries understood speculation
- the contributions and impact of a diverse array of participants
- popular and print memorialization of the events
Overall, the volume helps to rewrite the history of the 1719–20 bubbles and to recontextualize their place within eighteenth-century history.
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This book investigates the main features of the great Sicilian earthquake of January 1693. The vo... more This book investigates the main features of the great Sicilian earthquake of January 1693. The volume examines, in particular: the unfolding of the disaster between the two main seismic shocks (the first on January 9, the second on January 11); how the event was perceived and described by its contemporaries; its resonance throughout Sicily and Europe; the scientific debate initiated by the earthquake (a debate that, in some way, continues to this day); the issue of casualties and destructions (in Catania, for instance, more than half of the inhabitants perished, and more than three-quarters of the buildings collapsed); the social dimension of the catastrophe (the overturning of the established order, how the populations and authorities gradually overcame the trauma of the earthquake, etc.); finally, the articulation between the disaster and the long reconstruction (the psychological thresholds that the inhabitants had to overcome before they were able to reconstruct buildings made of stone, first floors, great cupolas, etc.) Overall, the book offers a new reading of this great earthquake – much less known than the 1755 Lisbon one – by focusing, in particular, on the analysis and comparison of the actors' practices and discourses.
Résumé en français
Ce livre analyse, à travers ses principales facettes, le grand tremblement de terre de Sicile de janvier 1693. Le volume examine en particulier : le déploiement de la catastrophe entre les deux principales secousses sismiques (la première le 9 janvier, la seconde le 11 janvier) ; la façon dont les contemporains perçurent et décrivirent l’événement ; le retentissement du désastre à travers la Sicile et l’Europe ; le débat scientifique auquel le tremblement de terre donna lieu (débat qui, d’une certaine façon, se poursuit jusqu’à aujourd’hui) ; la question des victimes et des destructions (à Catane, par exemple, plus de la moitié des habitants périrent et plus de trois-quarts des bâtiments s’écroulèrent) ; la dimension sociale de la catastrophe (l’ébranlement de l’ordre établi, la façon dont les populations et les autorités surmontèrent progressivement le traumatisme du séisme, etc.) ; enfin, l’articulation entre le désastre et la longue réédification urbaine (les seuils psychologiques que les habitants durent franchir avant de se décider à reconstruire les premiers édifices en pierre, les premiers étages, les premières grandes coupoles, etc.) De façon générale, le livre offre une nouvelle lecture de ce grand tremblement de terre – bien moins connu que celui de Lisbonne de 1755 – en mettant, en particulier, l’accent sur l’analyse et la comparaison des discours et pratiques des acteurs.
Working papers by Stefano Condorelli
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MPRA Paper (download: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/89888/1/MPRA_paper_89888.pdf), 2018
This paper attempts to address one major problem with bubble studies: the difficulty to rigorousl... more This paper attempts to address one major problem with bubble studies: the difficulty to rigorously compare assets bubbles (that is to say compare them via quantitative data, rather than simply anecdotal evidence). The idea of the paper is to use a metric that is not the level of price itself, but that is connected to it. This metric is price momentum (i.e. the magnitude and speed of price changes). Momentum is measured with a technical indicator: the Relative Strength Index (RSI). The RSI is popular among traders, yet it is not normally used as a tool of comparison. In particular, there appears to be no academic study that has hitherto employed the RSI as a metric to compare different booms and crashes. Likewise, it seems that the RSI was never applied to early modern markets (such as the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles), or to early 20th century markets (such as the 1929 crash). The paper does all this (based on historical securities prices). Furthermore, it develops news concepts and metrics (such as “strong momentum with low volatility”, “momentum efficiency”, and accumulated RSI readings) that are connected to the notion of momentum. These concepts, in turn, are interpreted through the lens of archival evidence. The result is a new method of analysis – which is not concerned with market forecasting, but only with comparison and historical interpretation – that sheds new light on the 1719-20 bubbles themselves.
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(download: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01779048), 2017
Les grandes guerres européennes, au tournant du XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle, marquent la transition en... more Les grandes guerres européennes, au tournant du XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle, marquent la transition entre un modèle de financement des dépenses militaires basé essentiellement sur l’impôt et un modèle basé en grande partie sur l’emprunt. L’emprunt – spécialement en temps de guerre – apparaît doublement préférable à l’impôt : parce qu’il offre dans l’immédiat un effet de levier bien plus important ; parce qu’il prémunit les États, également dans l’immédiat, contre les révoltes qui pourraient accompagner un fort renforcement de la fiscalité. Les premières années de la guerre de Succession d’Espagne (1701-07) marquent la période dorée de cette phase de transition : l’Angleterre, les Provinces-Unies, et dans une moindre mesure la France, parviennent à emprunter facilement et à des taux relativement faibles, et ce malgré les énormes dépenses militaires. Cependant, l’augmentation en flèche des taux d’endettement finit par entraîner une grave crise financière (1708-11) et une dislocation des marchés du crédit. Les belligérants continuent à emprunter massivement, mais à des taux de plus en plus élevés. Face à une guerre qui semble devoir se prolonger indéfiniment – faute de victoire décisive de part ou d’autre –, le poids croissant de la dette est sans doute la raison essentielle qui contraint France et Angleterre (les deux principaux adversaires) à rechercher la paix. La paix revenue (1713), les ex-belligérants gardent en héritage des niveaux d’endettement sans précédent. Les États expérimentent diverses méthodes afin de réduire drastiquement la charge de la dette sans pour autant la répudier. La plus célèbre et la plus vaste de ces expériences, le Système de Law, déclenche en 1719-20 une dynamique pan-européenne d’euphorie financière.
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(download: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01356108), 2003
The 11 January 1693 earthquake may be considered one of the largest disasters in European history... more The 11 January 1693 earthquake may be considered one of the largest disasters in European history. About forty towns in southeast Sicily were almost razed to the ground (seismic intensity equal or superior to X-XI Mercalli). Among them, Catania was the most severely affected, in terms of material destructions as well as casualties (nearly 75% of its population perished under the rubble).
The city overcame this massive catastrophe on the one hand, thanks to a range of initiatives that cleared the way for a swift return to normality (maintenance of law and order, reestablishment of worship, economic recovery); on the other hand, thanks to innovative legal measures that facilitated the reconstruction process (reform of the real estate market, cancellation of mortgages).
Besides, the earthquake became an opportunity for a transformation of the urban layout, and it also gave rise to a fierce competition for the control of land ownership. Finally, Catania was rapidly repopulated thanks to immigration. The thesis of this paper is that, paradoxically, the exceptional gravity of the disaster strengthened Catania’s resilience. Firstly, because it prompted the authorities to take bold measures that rapidly fostered the process of reconstruction; secondly, because the sharp decline in the population increased the stock of capital per capita thus facilitating the long-term investment drive.
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MPRA Paper (download: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/82821/), Jul 2014
The French Mississippi Bubble, British South Sea Bubble and Dutch 'Windhandel' were part of a 171... more The French Mississippi Bubble, British South Sea Bubble and Dutch 'Windhandel' were part of a 1719-20 pan-European equity boom that involved many more countries than hitherto thought. Drawing on extensive archival research, the paper establishes that speculation and stock euphoria spanned from Portugal to Russia, and from Sicily to Sweden. As such, it demonstrates that 1720 European financial markets were largely driven by common forces. Comparing all the projects (successful or unsuccessful) for joint-stock companies promoted around 1720, the paper underlines three aspects that shed new light on this first transnational financial bubble.
First, these projects bring to the fore a two-speed Europe: while the most advanced economies focused on innovative business sectors (in particular marine insurance), the least developed were catching up with a model that was more than one century old, namely the privileged company for long-distance trade and colonization.
Second, French and British experiments with public debt engineering (that fuelled the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles) were emulated throughout Europe; in almost every country there were schemes geared to improving public finances.
Third, the timing of the global equity boom was more diachronic than previously thought, suggesting that contemporaries did not expect that a stock market crash somewhere should necessarily generate a contagion effect.
Chapters in edited volumes by Stefano Condorelli
Una battaglia europea. Francavilla di Sicilia 20 giugno 1719, 2020
"Una battaglia europea" lo fu veramente quella combattuta il 20 giugno 1719 a Francavilla di Sici... more "Una battaglia europea" lo fu veramente quella combattuta il 20 giugno 1719 a Francavilla di Sicilia. Si affrontarono Austriaci e Spagnoli, ma insieme a loro soldati di varie nazionalità, non esclusi i Siciliani. Il volume raccoglie gli interventi di studiosi italiani ed europei al Convegno internazionale di studi storici, che affrontò in occasione del Tricentenario l'impegno di colmare la carenza di studi sulla guerra di Sicilia (1718-1720) nel quadro della Quadruplice Alleanza. Sotto l'egida della Società Italiana di Storia Militare, i saggi offrono un contributo solidamente ancorato alla "new military history".
in Florence Magnot-Ogilvy (ed.), "Gagnons sans savoir comment". Représentations du Système de Law du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours , 2017
This work examines how foreign newspapers presented and analysed the developments of John Law’s S... more This work examines how foreign newspapers presented and analysed the developments of John Law’s System in France between 1716 and 1720. The paper also study John Law’s touchy relationship with the international press and how he tried in different ways to manipulate it.
(download at https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:44944) Baumer et al. (eds.), Le voyage à Crotone : découvrir la Calabre de l'Antiquité à nos jours, 2015
“L’economia della ricostruzione” in E. Iachello (ed.) Storia di Catania (III). La grande Catania, Catania, Domenico Sanfilippo, 2010, pp. 50-69., 2010
“Sviluppi e tendenze dell’economia catanese (XVII-XVIII secolo)” in Lina Scalisi (ed.) Storia di Catania (II). L’identità urbana dall’antichità al Settecento, Catania, Domenico Sanfilippo, 2009, pp. 244-281., 2009
"Le Macchine dell’ingegno : Luisa Luna e l’espansione territoriale dei Moncada (1571-1586)” in Lina Scalisi (ed.) La Sicilia dei Moncada, Catania, Domenico Sanfilippo, 2006, pp. 252-271., 2006
l'espansione territoriale dei Moncada (1571-1586) Stefano Condorelli I primi quindici anni nei qu... more l'espansione territoriale dei Moncada (1571-1586) Stefano Condorelli I primi quindici anni nei quali Luisa Luna govemò casa Moncada (1571-1586) fu¡ono anni decisivi per questa famigha, che triplicò i propri possedimenti terrieri diventando così Ia prima poteiz feudale siciliana. I-obiettivo di questo saggio è di capire quali siano state le principalidina-
Articles by Stefano Condorelli
Enterprise & Society, 2019
The London Assurance (LA) was incorporated in 1720, marking a significant innovation in the marin... more The London Assurance (LA) was incorporated in 1720, marking a significant innovation in the marine insurance industry. Contemporaries anticipated joint-stock firms such as the LA would rapidly outcompete private underwriters, yet this outcome did not occur. The success of the private underwriters has been ascribed to their organizational form. This paper reassesses these explanations and finds that, rather than an a priori worse business model, various corporate governance challenges limited the LA’s capacity to compete. This provides a more complete explanation for the relative failure of the joint-stock marine insurance companies and has implications for understanding the evolution of the corporate form in the eighteenth century.
Dimensioni e problemi della ricerca storica (https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.7376/76659), 2013
“Catania dopo il terremoto del 1693: qual è l’impatto della ricostruzione sull’economia cittadina?”, Archivio Storico per la Sicilia Orientale, 2009, pp. 192-204., 2009
“The Reconstruction of Catania after the Earthquake of 1693”, Proceedings of the Second International Congress on Construction History (Queens’ College Cambridge 2006), Exeter, Short Run Press, 2006, I, pp. 799-815., 2006
Memorie e Rendiconti del l’Accademia degli Zelanti, serie V vol. X, 2011
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“Rotte, patroni e mercanti. Note sugli scambi marittimi di Catania alla fine del Settecento”, Archivio Storico per la Sicilia Orientale, 2009, pp. 126-161., 2009
Questo volume è pubblicato con il contributo della Regione Siciliana -Assessorato ai BB.CC.AA e P... more Questo volume è pubblicato con il contributo della Regione Siciliana -Assessorato ai BB.CC.AA e P.I. Stefano Condorelli Rotte, patroni e mercanti. Note sugli scambi marittimi di Catania alla fine del Settecento Un fascicolo doganale inedito Qual era, nella seconda metà del Settecento, il traffico di merci e d'imbarcazioni nel porto di Catania? Quali erano le rotte che facevano capo allo scalo etneo? Chi erano i principali attori del commercio marittimo cittadino: i catanesi stessi, oppure mercanti e marinai forestieri? Si possiedono, come è noto, poche informazioni a questo proposito. Mentre esistono alcune statistiche sui traffici del porto catanese nella prima metà dell'Ottocento 1 , non avevamo, fin qui, nulla di equivalente per il Settecento. Il ritrovamento fortuito di un fascicolo doganale del 1787-1 Cfr. E. Iachello, Costruzione del porto e identità urbana a Catania nell'Ottocento, in Id., A. Coco (a cura di), Il porto di Catania. Storia e prospettive, Lombardi, Siracusa 2003, che presenta una statistica delle imbarcazioni uscite dal porto di Catania (1819 e 1831-35), statistica elaborata sulla base di S. Mancini, Memoria del decurionato di Catania […] onde condursi a termine l'intrapreso molo, Catania 1836, e del Registro di responsali per fuori regno conservato all'Archivio di Stato di Catania, Prefettura 854. Sul porto ottocentesco cfr. inoltre un recente saggio di G. Cristina, La via del mare: il porto e la città (1820-1860), in E. Iachello (a cura di), La grande Catania, la nobiltà virtuosa, la borghesia operosa, Domenico Sanfilippo Editore, Catania 2010, e la sua tesi di dottorato: Il porto di Catania nel XIX secolo, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Catania 2010. 126 Stefano Condorelli, Rotte, patroni e mercanti
“Le plan de Wren de 1666 et la notion de «modèle» en urbanisme”, Les Cahiers de l’Aspan, n. 3, October 2008, pp. 3-4., 2008
Modèles, urbanisme et territoire SUISSE OCCIDENTALE 2 SOMMAIR E éditorial Un aménagement exemplai... more Modèles, urbanisme et territoire SUISSE OCCIDENTALE 2 SOMMAIR E éditorial Un aménagement exemplaire… loin des modèles Pascal Michel
Book Reviews by Stefano Condorelli
Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales., 2014
Un sogno di libertà. Napoli nel declino di un impero, 1585-1648 Milan, Mondadori, 2012 Rosario Vi... more Un sogno di libertà. Napoli nel declino di un impero, 1585-1648 Milan, Mondadori, 2012 Rosario Villari vient de publier un ouvrage remarquable sur l'insurrection de Naples de 1647-48.
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Books by Stefano Condorelli
- the geographical frame of the 1719-20 bubbles
- their social, cultural, economic and political impact
- the ways in which contemporaries understood speculation
- the contributions and impact of a diverse array of participants
- popular and print memorialization of the events
Overall, the volume helps to rewrite the history of the 1719–20 bubbles and to recontextualize their place within eighteenth-century history.
Résumé en français
Ce livre analyse, à travers ses principales facettes, le grand tremblement de terre de Sicile de janvier 1693. Le volume examine en particulier : le déploiement de la catastrophe entre les deux principales secousses sismiques (la première le 9 janvier, la seconde le 11 janvier) ; la façon dont les contemporains perçurent et décrivirent l’événement ; le retentissement du désastre à travers la Sicile et l’Europe ; le débat scientifique auquel le tremblement de terre donna lieu (débat qui, d’une certaine façon, se poursuit jusqu’à aujourd’hui) ; la question des victimes et des destructions (à Catane, par exemple, plus de la moitié des habitants périrent et plus de trois-quarts des bâtiments s’écroulèrent) ; la dimension sociale de la catastrophe (l’ébranlement de l’ordre établi, la façon dont les populations et les autorités surmontèrent progressivement le traumatisme du séisme, etc.) ; enfin, l’articulation entre le désastre et la longue réédification urbaine (les seuils psychologiques que les habitants durent franchir avant de se décider à reconstruire les premiers édifices en pierre, les premiers étages, les premières grandes coupoles, etc.) De façon générale, le livre offre une nouvelle lecture de ce grand tremblement de terre – bien moins connu que celui de Lisbonne de 1755 – en mettant, en particulier, l’accent sur l’analyse et la comparaison des discours et pratiques des acteurs.
Working papers by Stefano Condorelli
The city overcame this massive catastrophe on the one hand, thanks to a range of initiatives that cleared the way for a swift return to normality (maintenance of law and order, reestablishment of worship, economic recovery); on the other hand, thanks to innovative legal measures that facilitated the reconstruction process (reform of the real estate market, cancellation of mortgages).
Besides, the earthquake became an opportunity for a transformation of the urban layout, and it also gave rise to a fierce competition for the control of land ownership. Finally, Catania was rapidly repopulated thanks to immigration. The thesis of this paper is that, paradoxically, the exceptional gravity of the disaster strengthened Catania’s resilience. Firstly, because it prompted the authorities to take bold measures that rapidly fostered the process of reconstruction; secondly, because the sharp decline in the population increased the stock of capital per capita thus facilitating the long-term investment drive.
First, these projects bring to the fore a two-speed Europe: while the most advanced economies focused on innovative business sectors (in particular marine insurance), the least developed were catching up with a model that was more than one century old, namely the privileged company for long-distance trade and colonization.
Second, French and British experiments with public debt engineering (that fuelled the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles) were emulated throughout Europe; in almost every country there were schemes geared to improving public finances.
Third, the timing of the global equity boom was more diachronic than previously thought, suggesting that contemporaries did not expect that a stock market crash somewhere should necessarily generate a contagion effect.
Chapters in edited volumes by Stefano Condorelli
Articles by Stefano Condorelli
Book Reviews by Stefano Condorelli
- the geographical frame of the 1719-20 bubbles
- their social, cultural, economic and political impact
- the ways in which contemporaries understood speculation
- the contributions and impact of a diverse array of participants
- popular and print memorialization of the events
Overall, the volume helps to rewrite the history of the 1719–20 bubbles and to recontextualize their place within eighteenth-century history.
Résumé en français
Ce livre analyse, à travers ses principales facettes, le grand tremblement de terre de Sicile de janvier 1693. Le volume examine en particulier : le déploiement de la catastrophe entre les deux principales secousses sismiques (la première le 9 janvier, la seconde le 11 janvier) ; la façon dont les contemporains perçurent et décrivirent l’événement ; le retentissement du désastre à travers la Sicile et l’Europe ; le débat scientifique auquel le tremblement de terre donna lieu (débat qui, d’une certaine façon, se poursuit jusqu’à aujourd’hui) ; la question des victimes et des destructions (à Catane, par exemple, plus de la moitié des habitants périrent et plus de trois-quarts des bâtiments s’écroulèrent) ; la dimension sociale de la catastrophe (l’ébranlement de l’ordre établi, la façon dont les populations et les autorités surmontèrent progressivement le traumatisme du séisme, etc.) ; enfin, l’articulation entre le désastre et la longue réédification urbaine (les seuils psychologiques que les habitants durent franchir avant de se décider à reconstruire les premiers édifices en pierre, les premiers étages, les premières grandes coupoles, etc.) De façon générale, le livre offre une nouvelle lecture de ce grand tremblement de terre – bien moins connu que celui de Lisbonne de 1755 – en mettant, en particulier, l’accent sur l’analyse et la comparaison des discours et pratiques des acteurs.
The city overcame this massive catastrophe on the one hand, thanks to a range of initiatives that cleared the way for a swift return to normality (maintenance of law and order, reestablishment of worship, economic recovery); on the other hand, thanks to innovative legal measures that facilitated the reconstruction process (reform of the real estate market, cancellation of mortgages).
Besides, the earthquake became an opportunity for a transformation of the urban layout, and it also gave rise to a fierce competition for the control of land ownership. Finally, Catania was rapidly repopulated thanks to immigration. The thesis of this paper is that, paradoxically, the exceptional gravity of the disaster strengthened Catania’s resilience. Firstly, because it prompted the authorities to take bold measures that rapidly fostered the process of reconstruction; secondly, because the sharp decline in the population increased the stock of capital per capita thus facilitating the long-term investment drive.
First, these projects bring to the fore a two-speed Europe: while the most advanced economies focused on innovative business sectors (in particular marine insurance), the least developed were catching up with a model that was more than one century old, namely the privileged company for long-distance trade and colonization.
Second, French and British experiments with public debt engineering (that fuelled the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles) were emulated throughout Europe; in almost every country there were schemes geared to improving public finances.
Third, the timing of the global equity boom was more diachronic than previously thought, suggesting that contemporaries did not expect that a stock market crash somewhere should necessarily generate a contagion effect.
The objective of the paper is to give a concise analysis of this massive process of reconstruction. The paper will address four questions in particular: What were the preliminary economic conditions? How long did the reconstruction last? What impact did it have on the local economy? How does Catania compare to similar reconstructions such as London after the 1666 Great Fire, or Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake?
This research draws on extensive archival material, including records of the public notaries, of major families and monasteries, of the diocese, and of the central government. It is based, in particular, on well-preserved series of accounting books that allow us to follow twenty large construction sites for over a century (the cathedral, the monastery of San Nicolò, the monastery of Santissima Trinità, palazzo Biscari, the hospital of San Marco, etc.) These accounting books – that had not previously been studied systematically or thoroughly – are extremely useful, as they keep record of year-by-year sources of income and expenses (including building investments). The systematic study of the reconstruction of the popular dwellings is more difficult to achieve. Yet, a huge notarial documentation shed light on these too.
The main findings of the papers are that: a) the reconstruction process lasted more than a century, and that it had three main peak periods (1693-97, 1718-24, and 1759-71); b) that there was a great deal of diversity in the way actors managed to finance their building works; c) and finally that the reconstruction contributed, in a number of ways, to the economic boom experienced by Catania in the 18th century.
Money, History, Finance Workshop
Rutgers University, Department of Economics
Sponsor: program of the Collaborative Research Center (923) “Threatened Order – Societies under Stress”.
The conference aims to bring together scholars working on the many aspects of the 1719-20 stock euphoria. It will provide a forum for discussing recent and ongoing research.Organizing committee: Stefano Condorelli (Bern), Renate Dürr (Tübingen), and Daniel Menning (Tübingen).
Confirmed participants: Michael Aldous (Belfast), Farid Azfar (Swarthmore), Fabbio Braggion (Tiburg), Rik Frehen (Tiburg), Malick Ghachem (MIT), Emiel Jerphanion (Tilburg), Marlene Kessler (Tübingen), Richard Kleer (Regina), Inger Leemans (Amsterdam), Anne Murphy (Hertfordshire), Arnaud Orain (Paris), Eve Rosenhaft (Liverpool), Rafael Streib (Tübingen), Abigail Swingen (Texas), Francois Velde (Chicago), Hans-Joachim Voth (Zurich), Lina Weber (Amsterdam), Koji Yamamoto (Tokyo), Christine Zabel (Duisburg-Essen).