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"No night swarming around"

2020-05-31T23:40:07.761Z


The corona pandemic and its aftermath are currently the dominant issues. But in the past, citizens had to fight epidemics. Weilheim's city archivist Joachim Heberlein reports on contagious diseases of the recent past - with parallels to today's measures


The corona pandemic and its aftermath are currently the dominant issues. But in the past, citizens had to fight epidemics. Weilheim's city archivist Joachim Heberlein reports on contagious diseases of the recent past - with parallels to today's measures

Weilheim - "... and a reprimand is given to the city magistrate for failing to periodically disinfect the assignments in schools expressly ordered by the highest authority." We read this in a letter from the district to the Weilheim city magistrate dated March 16, 1866. The reason for this was the "measures against the spread of Asian cholera". This highly contagious infectious disease, which was particularly pandemic in the 19th century and caused by bacteria, caused fear and terror among the countless victims.

Another pandemic in Weilheim, the Spanish flu, was just over 100 years ago. The Weilheimer Tagblatt reported on October 26, 1918: "The flu, which had already spread widely in July in the empire and then temporarily subsided, has reappeared in considerably greater frequency for about three weeks. In any case, there were more symptoms of illness among the children, which is why the sixth and seventh boys' classes of the elementary school were closed until Monday. ”

The couple left seven children

Just three days later, the subscribers had to read: "The flu, which initially seemed to be benign, is spreading uncanny, so that it has been decided at the relevant points, all classes of the elementary and further education schools, as well as the child care facility to close from today until November 3 inclusive. Unfortunately, the disease, which already claimed two victims on Saturday, has recently cruelly destroyed a beautiful family life by killing the coppersmith's wife Ringholz, mother of seven children, while the husband is seriously ill. ”

On November 7th, and here the recommendations of today and then are the same, the readers were let know: “Because of the still prevalent flu, the k. District office urgently to avoid visiting larger crowds. "

In its last November issue, Tagblatt reported: “The number of deaths in our city in November is alarmingly high. The flu broke many painful gaps, and it was mostly female people between the ages of 20 and 40 who the cruel reaper Death killed too early. ” It was particularly tragic that the coppersmith Karl Ringholz followed his wife four days later, leaving seven underage children between the ages of five and 17 as orphans.

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In the parish of Mariae Himmelfahrt 26 people between the ages of three and 73 died of “flu / pneumonia”, including 20 women. The death records of the parish of St. Pölten report seven deceased between the ages of 10 and 60. It is astonishing that the Spanish flu was only reflected in the newspaper, because the minutes of the meetings of the city colleges are silent about it, and no corresponding act was created.

The situation was different in the 19th century when the cholera pandemics flared up again and again, and there are numerous files in the city archive. Because a cholera outbreak was just around the corner in 1836, Mittenwald was already struggling with it, city clerk Philipp Jakob Wimmer gave a detailed lecture at the end of September 1836 on "The precautions against the insolation in the city of Weilheim". On the basis of the measures announced by the government, "which are suitable for preventing evil, or counteracting it vigorously at the first moment, where there have already been outbreaks", he spoke about the victuals (= vegetables) and the cleanliness police, the public amusements, the poor, the nursing, the funeral homes and the inevitably necessary means of cover, because all provisions had to be paid in the end.

Beer as the national drink of the Bavarians

With regard to the Viktualienpolizei, he remarked among other things: “Beer is the national drink of the Bavarians; Beer is drunk in almost every home, and in connection with a piece of bread it often provides evening meals - sometimes also lunch; Acid, spoiled beer that is too new and not fermented enough is not good for your health at all. promotes in particular the grasping of the crushing clock, so the beer undoubtedly deserves the first and most excellent consideration.

Since it was a matter of cleanliness - the cholera bacteria are mainly spread through drinking water contaminated with faeces - Wimmer urged "to prohibit the pouring of impure water, especially mixed with animal components on the streets", "to hang up the laundry frequently places that have been committed, where possible with amicable admonitions, but also to eliminate them by direct prohibitions ”and“ the frequent cleaning of the cuttings, sewers, etc. to recommend such things as possible. "

He took a strict stance on the amusements: “In times of general tribulation, it would be a strange contrast if public amusements were allowed frequently. Therefore, as long as it is only a matter of precautionary measures against vomiting, the same are to be restricted as much as possible within the legal limits, so that the disease itself is not brought in by comedians, musicians, etc., or caused by excessive enjoyment. ”

Punishment for Zecher and innkeeper

A particular thorn in his side was that "visiting the inns, especially as it is now practiced on Sundays and public holidays by journeyman and servants, is more a matter of raw sensual pleasure and a disorderly lifestyle than a matter of need". "Therefore, the police hour must be strictly observed and in order for this to be achieved, not only must Zecher stay in the inn over time, but also u. the innkeeper will be punished very well. The former are subject to arrest, the latter with fines of at least 5 fl. (= Guilders).

Because, however, according to all local experiences, strict handling of the police hour will probably result in disparages and even ill-treatment of the only police officer. For his safety and for the sake of public peace and order, the assistance of the Landwehr team is at least on Sundays and Sundays. Holidays can not be avoided.

Since there was a particular risk of infection among the poor and less well-off residents, a council for the poor should be constituted. He had to determine the level of poverty, "to get to know the work shy and to give every poor the necessary support in the way and to the extent that corresponds to his really recognized needs".

Healthy food was seen as the primary need of the poor

The homeless poor should first be assigned an apartment, the rest of the poor need “to protect themselves against the risk of vomiting, warm clothing and the like. Covering". Wimmer saw the poor as the main need for healthy food to be prepared in a soup house to be set up in the hospital building. Nursing requires "above all an appropriate place".

The hospital at that time, this was the northern part of the hospital building, he felt according to the requirements, “since it is mainly about the accommodation of sick people from families who live too closely together and the servants who, strictly speaking, have not been incorporated into the family association is. " in the event of an outbreak of cholera could by" the addition of a few rooms of the hospital and by the use of Latin and drawing classrooms to be extended. "Unfortunately, there was" on beds, blankets laundering and equipment of all kinds serious shortage because the institution to is poorly endowed. "

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Since deaths were expected, Wimmer pointed out that, according to medical insurance, no other illness causes the apparent death more often than the vomiting, which is why "the most terrible of all deaths, being buried alive, requires the strictest supervision". As a means of avoiding it, he named the morgue and the morgue, which was then in the Anger chapel.

His further version seems almost strange: “In many, especially larger, places there is a habit of having the corpses taken from private apartments to the burial site or morgue, for which special hearses are available. Their introduction could have an adverse effect on the mind. So they want to be refrained from doing so at least until the danger approaches us and the necessity becomes imperative. ”

The wealthy Weilheimers were asked for money because of tight budgets

Because money was needed and the city's coffers were tight, he applied for "a subscription to extraordinary voluntary contributions to the average population of the local population". The magistrate followed Wimmer's ideas and decided to enforce and announce it at its meeting on September 27, 1836. The collection among the wealthy Weilheimers, whereby the hard-hearted were warned that "the crushing clock did not take into account status, age or wealth , and that the evil once overpowered in the less averaged classes also spread to the palaces with an iron hand, ”resulted in a result of 257 guilders and eight cruisers.

Precautions were not only taken at the political level. The Augsburg Ordinariate asked the parish offices "to call on divine help against an evil through general prayer, the peculiar origin and nature of which has so far remained obscured by common sense". For this reason, a ten-hour prayer was held in the parish church. Since cholera did not erupt in 1836, on April 13, 1837, a five-hour prayer in the city parish church was held to give an "Acknowledgment for sparing the bruise".

Already in 1831 there were precautions against a pandemic, which went hand in hand with state orders and which are noteworthy with regard to today: “These orders ... will be more or less annoying to individuals or to everyone in one or the other relationship; it cannot be otherwise, and it is therefore inevitable that everyone should prepare in advance to sacrifice that which is incompatible with the implementation of this order. This willing obedience at the beginning is all the more necessary since, of course, stricter ordinances will occur if the evil comes closer to us, and so larger and heavier sacrifices would have to be made. "

Traders had a special responsibility

The orders at the time required "strict observation of the police hour and refraining from all night swarming around", the elimination of personal and public uncleanliness, so that "transactions that are disgusting to do or pollute the air" could no longer be carried out during the day .

The traders who “deal with the preparation or sale of the first groceries” were made aware of their special responsibility. The Wasenmeister (= masker) was told to leave the stray dogs stray between “8:00 am and 6:00 am in the evening”, some of whom “are locked out on the alley overnight out of carelessness on the part of the owner and then disturb the nightly silence with an uneasy howl” to kill dead.

In 1831 Weilheim was also spared cholera. In 1854, when cholera raged again in Bavaria and the most famous victim died with Queen Therese, Weilheim also had to complain about a victim, namely the 55-year-old cattle dealer wife Anna Schmalzer.

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How she got infected is unknown, it will probably not have been the Kirchweihna. Why not? A letter from the regional court provides information about this. It instructed the city that, according to the government's high resolution of September 16, “the sale of pasta from the church is also called farmers' pasta, if such should occur in Weilheim, should be stopped immediately”. Mayor Anton Hipper stated succinctly in the letter: "Since there is no such origin here, for consideration, ad acta."

We also want to temporarily shelve the topic and deal in the following articles with the epidemics that repeatedly threatened Weilheim from the 16th to the beginning of the 18th century. But the wish that can be read on the base of the Marian column erected in 1698 remains the same over all times: "A peste, fame et igne redde Securum Weilhemium, o Maria" - "Protect Weilheim, o Maria from plague, hunger and fire."

BY JOACHIM HEBERLEIN

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-05-31

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