In 1892 the city of Hamburg, Germany, was hit by a cholera epidemic. Within six weeks nearly 10,000 people died, and within two months 600,000 had died from the disease. In his 1987 book, Death in Hamburg: Society and Politics in the Cholera Years (1830-1910), Sir Richard J. Evans examines the events surrounding the outbreak. Questions that come to mind are: Are there any parallels to the COVID-19 crisis? Have we learned anything from past epidemics?

How the Hamburg Epidemic Got Started

Hamburg was the second largest city in Germany at the time. It was a one of the biggest seaports in the world and a popular springboard for Europeans wanting to start new lives in America. Having originated in India in the early 19^th century, cholera had spread westward by trade and by the armies that marched across Europe. By the end of the 19^th century, the threat of cholera seemed to have faded away. But in August 1892, a cholera pandemic broke out in Hamburg. Emigrants had brought the disease with them on trains from Russia. Since they tended to stay in run-down lodgings until ready for embarkation for the US, their infected feces went in the Elbe River, the city’s water supply. The infected water was then delivered to everyone who had a water supply connection.

Hamburg Harbor in 2015 as seen from the Elphi. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Hamburg Government Reaction to the Epidemic

So, what did the Hamburg government do when the problem became known? At the time, Hamburg was an autonomous city-state within the German Empire. That meant that the city was run by merchant families. These business-oriented leaders put trade and economy above the residents’ welfare, and their first reaction was to suppress the news of the cholera outbreak. The reason was that they feared imposition of quarantines, which would damage trade. So, they instructed doctors to lie and attribute the deaths to other causes. It took a full week before the merchant leaders admitted to the presence of cholera.

When the government officials finally did jump into action, the disease could no longer be contained. The resulting economic repercussions were disastrous. Hamburg was immediately quarantined by the rest of Germany and soon by the rest of the world. Trade virtually came to a halt. Quarantine led to mass unemployment. The city’s health services were overwhelmed. No effective treatment was available, and the few available doctors were unable to cope. The political fallout from the disaster was extensive. Does any of this sound familiar so far?

Science Relative to Epidemics and Pandemics

About a decade earlier, German bacteriologist Robert Koch discovered that cholera was waterborne and transmitted via excrement. But the political leaders did not buy into the discovery. Instead, they continued to hold onto the view that cholera was spread by an invisible vapor, which no government could hope to prevent. While several other European cities had taken the scientific approach and begun to treat their water proactively, Hamburg’s merchant leaders had refused to commit taxpayers’ money to the water filtering. Now they were paying the price for putting profit over health.

What Happened After the Hamburg Epidemic

When the epidemic was over, the merchant leaders finally reacted. They pushed for a clean water supply, introduced state housing and hygiene inspections and made plans for a major program of slum clearance. But the damage was done. The electorate had lost trust in their leaders. A year after the cholera outbreak, Hamburg’s citizenry voted their incompetent merchant leaders out of office and replaced them with Social Democrats who prioritized science and health over profit. We will also elect our leaders this November. Will we see a similar reaction?

What did we learn?

The short answer is: Apparently not much. Although there are differences between the Hamburg epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic (medicine wasn’t nearly as advanced in the early 19^th century) there are also many parallels. While some countries were proactive with testing, tracing and quarantines during the coronavirus pandemic, others were reactive. https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-governments-respond-to-pandemics-like-the-coronavirus There was also a division in the acceptance of scientific evidence and predictions. China’s first reaction was to cover up the emergence of the virus. The Trump Administration’s first reaction was to deny and then to minimize its danger. Germany, led by a scientist-trained leader, prescribed to scientific methods with good results. The Trump Administration largely sidelined its medical experts and focused on the health of the economy with disastrous results.  The result was that as of 12 July 2020, Germany recorded 2,385 cases and 109 deaths per million of population while the US documented 10,136 cases and 415 deaths per million. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries.

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Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.