The Overrated Effect of Cholera and Typhoid Fever on Sanitary Reform: The Case of Linz

Authors

  • Luisa Pichler-Baumgartner University of Salzburg, Austria

Abstract

Recent research literature has challenged the popular narrative that outbreaks of cholera directly led to sanitary reform in European cities in the nineteenth century. The case of Linz/Donau contributes to the revised interpretation. By investigating one essential part of city sanitation—the establishment of a modern water infrastructure—, it becomes obvious that the reasons and motives for its implementation cannot be reduced solely to the occurrence of epidemics such as cholera or typhoid fever.

Author Biography

Luisa Pichler-Baumgartner, University of Salzburg, Austria

Luisa Pichler-Baumgartner is a recipient of a DOC Fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in the department of history, University of Salzburg. She studied history and English studies at the University of Salzburg and the IT Tallaght Dublin. In her dissertation project on environmental justice and water infrastructure in the city of Linz, she explores potential intersections of environmental and social history.

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Published

2017-03-17

Issue

Section

Spring