No more cholera!

The infectious disease ravages the Hamburg population for the last time

Ever since the Black Death cut a swath through the population of late medieval Europe, people feared the plague more than anything. This fear was superseded in the 18th century by the threat of smallpox, against which a vaccine was developed. The new fear of the 19th century was cholera, as it was easily contracted through contaminated drinking water or infected food. Like the plague, the disease caused diarrhoea and a rapid death. Prussia suffered 13 cholera epidemics in the mid-19th century, which killed rich and poor, the famous and unknown alike. The best-known victim of the disease was the philosopher Hegel.

The first victim of the cholera epidemic that broke out on 14 August 1892 was a sewer worker who died shortly after contracting the disease. The water of the rivers flowing through Hamburg had been warmed by summer temperatures and constituted the ideal breeding ground for the cholera bacteria. The disease spread rapidly, especially in poor neighbourhoods with their narrow passageways and dark, stuffy basement apartments. Robert Koch, a doctor sent from Berlin, was horrified by the unhygienic conditions, exclaiming: “I forget that I am in Europe.” Acting quickly, Hamburg’s authorities sealed off the city and distributed boiled water to its populace. Although half of the 17,000 people who contracted the disease died, the outbreak was contained and petered out within a few weeks. Hamburg subsequently installed filter systems for the drinking water supply and expanded the sewage system. The threat of cholera in Germany and Europe soon declined after Koch discovered how the disease was transmitted.