When the cholera epidemic raged in Hamburg in 1892

On August 14, 1892, a doctor in Altona had the first suspicion of cholera. On August 23, Hamburg officially reports the first case. 8,605 people die in the city as a result of the disease. Help comes from the doctor Robert Koch.

"I forget I'm in Europe." Robert Koch, Director of the Prussian Institute for Infectious Diseases, made this devastating judgment about the conditions in Hamburg when he visited the Hanseatic city during the cholera epidemic in the summer of 1892. It is the last major outbreak of this disease in Germany.

A hot summer with low water levels in Hamburg

The summer of 1892 is exceptionally hot. In August, temperatures in Hamburg are around 30 degrees. The levels of the Elbe and the canals are low, the water is warm and therefore ideal for the multiplication of germs. The Altona doctor Dr. On August 14, Hugo Simon suspected cholera in a patient. The sewer worker named Sahling suffers from severe vomiting and diarrhea and dies shortly after being admitted to the hospital. In the coming days, cases of diarrhea with vomiting, as most doctors call the clinical picture in their files, will increase.

Gear District:"Bedgrounds for every contagion"

Robert Koch quickly realized that the catastrophic hygienic conditions, especially in the poorer districts of Hamburg, offer the best conditions for the spread of the cholera pathogen. "I have never encountered such unhealthy apartments, plague caves and breeding grounds for every contagious germ as in the so-called gangway districts that I was shown, at the port, on Steinstrasse, in Spitalerstrasse or on Niedernstrasse," he says.

Many Hamburgers live in miserable conditions in the gangways. Numerous residents were driven out of the port area for the construction of the Speicherstadt - and found affordable living space in apartment buildings around the churches of St. Michaelis and St. Jacobi. Narrow alleys, dirty and dark backyards, damp basement apartments and poor sanitary facilities provide ideal breeding ground for diseases.

Eels from the water pipe

Another weak point in the Hanseatic city:The drinking water is taken untreated from the Elbe. The construction of a filtration plant - suggested as early as 1872 - is postponed for cost reasons and in 1892 is only in the early stages. The extraction point is only two kilometers upstream near Rothenburgsort, so that the polluted harbor water is taken up at high tide. Not only the dirty Elbe water runs through the pipes. Numerous animals, including eels, come out of the water pipes. The situation in neighboring Altona is completely different. A sand filter system near Blankenese has been cleaning the drinking water since 1859. The benefit quickly becomes apparent:only a few people die from cholera in Altona.

Cholera warning comes too late

After the first cases, suitable measures to contain the disease are initially lacking. Because those responsible have hesitated for a long time to announce the outbreak of cholera. They fear economic losses more than the plague. In addition, many Hamburg physicians are not familiar with the latest scientific developments. Medical councilor Johann Caspar Theodor Kraus asks the head of the Eppendorf hospital, Dr. Theodor Rumpf not to attract attention. Rumpf, who is a follower of the bacteriologist Koch, initially fails to prove the cholera pathogen.

Finally, the bacteriologist and pathologist Dr. Eugen Fraenkel isolated the bacterial culture on August 22nd. Although the scientific proof of cholera has now been provided, Senator Gerhard Hachmann continues to speak only of a suspicion. He even assured the US Vice Consul Charles Burke that there was no cholera in Hamburg. Accordingly, the emigrant ships initially continue to New York. It was not until August 23, 1892 that the Hanseatic city reported the outbreak of the epidemic to the Imperial Health Office in Berlin. The next day, Koch confirmed the report on site as a representative of the Reich government.

Cholera epidemic drives "Gateway to the World" into isolation

While many wealthy Hamburgers are leaving the city, the poor are trying to protect themselves as best they can. But the cramped, unhygienic living conditions and lack of education make it difficult to fight cholera effectively. The medical authority distributes notes with rules of conduct, barrel trucks distribute boiled water, food stalls offer bacteria-free meals in public places. The schools are closed on Koch's orders. Trade and traffic come to a standstill. The Hanseatic city, which likes to call itself the gateway to the world, is isolated.

Dock workers for disinfection and as gravediggers

The dockworkers who are now unemployed find employment in the cemetery or with disinfection crews. They disinfect streets and houses with various chemicals such as chlorinated lime, carbolic acid, lysol and creolin. Day and night, 125 workers dig new graves in the Ohlsdorf cemetery. The dead are often buried in mass graves. On August 27 alone, 441 cholera sufferers die. The plague raged for ten weeks. Isolated deaths continue to occur until February 1893. A total of 16,596 people fell ill in Hamburg, 8,605 of them died. Although there are cases of cholera elsewhere in Germany, no epidemic is as dramatic as the one in Hamburg. Because in other cities the hygienic conditions are much better. And the authorities take rigorous countermeasures as soon as the first cases become known.

Keim probably came to Hamburg from Russia

Politicians hold Eastern Europeans responsible for the outbreak of cholera, large numbers of whom emigrate to America via Hamburg. In the 19th century, especially in Russia, there were repeated outbreaks of cholera. East European emigrants are now forbidden from entering Prussian soil. The Hamburg borders are also closed, and the Russians are not allowed to leave the emigrant barracks on the Amerikakai. The shipping company Hapag, which earns a fortune with the emigrant ships, is pushing for a speedy resumption of transit traffic. From 1893 onwards, the Senate again allowed Eastern European emigrants to enter Hamburg. However, medical controls and disinfection measures are already taking place at the borders.

Senate takes action

In addition to the deaths of many people, the city has lost millions in the economy. Politicians are taking the consequences and taking numerous measures to avoid another epidemic. The filtration works of the Hamburger Wasserwerke on the Elbe island of Kaltehofe near Rothenburgsort were completed in 1893. A little later, a waste incineration plant goes into operation. The corridors are being renovated. The city is also passing new building laws to promote more hygienic living conditions. The conditions for emigrants are also improving. In 1906 the new emigrant halls on the Veddel replace the old barracks on the Amerikakai. They offer more space and better hygiene.

Bernhard Nocht becomes a port doctor

On April 1, 1893, Bernhard Nocht took up the newly created post of port doctor. The student of Robert Koch should ensure that hygienic precautionary measures are observed and, if necessary, sound the alarm at an early stage. In October 1900, the tropical medicine specialist took over the post of director and chief physician at the newly founded Institute for Ship and Tropical Diseases. Today, the Bernhard Nocht Institute is one of the world's leading institutions for tropical medicine.