Plague in Vienna

The history of plague in one city--Vienna, Austria--has been traced from records beginning in the fourteenth century until its disappearance in the eighteenth century. Much of the source material for this review is published for the first time in English and is drawn from records maintained by the city of Vienna at the time of each outbreak. The historical context illustrates the reaction of large populations to deadly disease: fear, helplessness, and acceptance of an ever present threat. Concepts of prophylaxis to ward off the infection were haphazard, empiric, and often dependent on the use of medicaments and treatments that were, in modern terms, irrational. The medical and hygienic concepts of the time were principal impediments to more successful control, as is demonstrated by quotations from official documents dealing with attempts to cope with the epidemic. The development of control measures was painfully slow, and ultimate control was not achieved until socioeconomic improvement and concepts of hygiene both reached the point at which the conditions for the spread of the disease could be minimized.