“Historical Climatology as an important discipline to study past climate, extremes and natural hazards and their impact on society and cultural heritage” Luterbacher, J.,Professor & Chair for Climatology, Climate Dynamics and Climate Change, Justus-Liebig University, University of Giessen, Germany Abstract Historical Climatology as an important discipline to study past climate, extremes and natural hazards and their impact on society and cultural heritageHistorical climatology is the use of documentary and written evidence to study historical changes in climate, extremes and their effect on human history and development. Historical Climatology follows two main goals: reconstructing temporal and spatial patterns of weather and climate including natural disasters and hazards (floods, storms, drought, heatwaves, earthquakes, fires, etc.) for the period prior to national meteorological networks, investigating the vulnerability of past societies and economies to climate variations, climate extremes and natural disasters. Historical Climatology can contribute to the current debate on the long-term impacts of adverse climate conditions, extremes and natural hazards from a historical point of view. For instance, the study of historical flooding with respect to meteorological causes, frequency, severity and human impacts and damages on cultural heritage and historical monuments provides important information in developing future flood risk management strategies.The talk presents the tools used by historical climatologist and shows different examples of past natural disasters and extremes from Europe and the Mediterranean and how they have affected human affairs and led to material damage.