About Project: At the 6th INQUA Congress in Poland in 1961 the INQUA Sub-Commission of European Loess Stratigraphy came into being as a specialist group operating within the remit of the Stratigraphy Commission. This initiative was due to Julius Fink of the University of Vienna and it was his vision of loess research in Europe which provided the structure and drove forward the activities of the sub-commission in the early days. In fact it was Fink’s vision which carried the Loess Commission through its entire 40 year existence. At the 8th INQUA Congress in Paris in 1969 the Sub-Commission was upgraded to full Commission status, and by then the programe was settled and a considerable amount of activity had occurred. The aim was to study loess stratigraphy all across Europe, and to develop continent wide correlations. This would be assisted by annual meetings in the various participating countries, and by the preparation of the INQUA Loess Map of Europe. Also there was the general belief that the study of loess could add to the better understanding of the Quaternary period. The map project was to be overseen by Gunter Haase of the Academy of Sciences in Leipzig.