Exhibition
Menacing, sometimes highly contagious and rapidly spreading diseases and the appropriate handling of them have shaped the history of countries and communities for centuries. As the recent Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated, this is still the case today. From April 24th to July 15th 2023 an exhibition in the Bamberg State Library will present how Bamberg reacted to the outbreak of epidemics from the late Middle Ages up to the 19th century and which institutions were set up to protect the health of the community.
Infirmaries, almshouses, apothecaries and bathhouses are testament of this: since the late medieval period, the bishopric of Bamberg has had a developed healthcare system. From the 16th century onwards, the ruling bishops also employed court and personal physicians. The list of diseases that repeatedly claimed countless victims is long: plague, spotted fever, typhus, syphilis, dysentery, smallpox, measles and cholera. Characteristic of the 16th and 17th centuries was the understanding that plagues were God's punishment for the sins of man. A view shared not only by the episcopal government and clergy, but also by trained physicians. Nevertheless, both the government and the medical profession saw their subjects as having a duty to protect themselves as best they could against epidemics. To this end, they recommended a catalogue of measures to improve hygiene and air quality, as well as to isolate and treat infected people. As many people had no access to doctors and pre-modern medicine was powerless in the face of numerous diseases in any case, a medical marketplace developed in Bamberg, as in many other cities, where traveling healers as well as the local executioner offered their services.
With the founding of the General Hospital in 1789, Prince Bishop Franz Ludwig von Erthal put Bamberg's medical system on a new footing. From then on, one of the most modern medical institutions in Europe was dedicated to patient care as well as research and training. Nevertheless, the healthcare system remained shaped by pre-modern structures and ideas well into the 19th century. A medical-surgical school did not change that, nor did one of the first psychiatric hospitals in Germany closely connected to its first director Adalbert Friedrich Marcus.
Partnership
The exhibition is the result of close cooperation between the Bamberg State Library and the Chair of Modern History (including Regional History) at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg. A seminar led by Prof. Dr. Mark Häberlein in the spring of 2022 took a close look at the history of epidemic control and the medical system in the bishopric of Bamberg using the rich holdings of the State Library. The results of the seminar have been included in the exhibition.
Publication
Most of the texts for the accompanying publication were written by participants in the seminar led by the exhibition curator Prof. Dr. Mark Häberlein at the University of Bamberg in spring 2022. The catalogue is available in bookshops for € 28.00 and over the exhibition period in the library at a special price of € 20.00. The e-book is free.
Häberlein, Mark (ed.): Pest und Cholera. Seuchenbewältigung und Medizinalwesen in Bamberg in der Frühen Neuzeit. Bamberg, 2023 (printed book, e-book).
Virtual Exhibition
Plague and Cholera is one of the virtual exhibitions presented by the Bamberg State Library on Google Arts & Culture, an art and culture service on the internet and as an app.
Overview of information
Location | Bamberg State Library | |
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Opening hours | 24th April to 15th July 2023 Monday to Friday Sunday, 21st May 2023, 11:00 to 17:00 Closed on Sundays, Ascension (18th May 2023), Whitmonday (29th May 2023) and Corpus Christi (8th June 2023) | |
Entry fee | Free of charge | |
Tours | Every Thursday (except for public holidays), 17:00 Meeting point in the entrance room of the library | |
Art snacks | Wednesday, 26th April 2023, 12:30 Wednesday, 10th May 2023, 12:30 Meeting point in the entrance room of the library | |
Special tours for groups | Upon appointment | |
Accompanying lectures | Sunday, 23rd April 2023, 11:00 Thursday, 4th May 2023, 19:00 Wednesday, 21st June 2023, 19:00 No registration required, free of charge | |
Flyer | PDF, 2 pages | |
Curator | Prof. Dr. Mark Häberlein (Bamberg) | |
Press photos | Printable image files for download | |
Contact us | Professional issues Press and public relations office |