Christiaan Brunings

In 1798 he was appointed head of the Bureau voor den Waterstaat (Office of Public Works), the forerunner of the Rijkswaterstaat.

In 1789 he published a detailed practical treatise on river flow including an account of his and other water-flow meters.

In his house, "Zwanenburg", in Halfweg he conducted meteorological observations, following a tradition established by Noppen.

The significance of Brunings for the development of Dutch water management is clear from his tomb in Sint-Bavokerk in Haarlem, "Nederlands Raad en Beschermer tegen de Woede der Zee en der Stormen" ("Dutch counsel and protector against the anger of the sea and storms"), a statement of his disciple and successor, Frederik Willem Conrad, who published the first biography of him in 1827.

The SS Christian Brunings has since 1968 been part of the collection of museum ships belonging to the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam.