Along the riverfront is Stormflodssøjlen, a wooden flood column commemorating the numerous floods that have swept over Ribe. The ring at the top indicates the water’s depth during the record flood of 1634 – a staggering 6m above the normal water level – which claimed hundreds of lives. Although these days a system of dikes affords low-lying Ribe more protection, residents are still subject to periodic flood evacuations.