1 Aug 1866 Prussian and Saxon soldiers introduced cholera

Almost fifteen hundred people died in the last cholera epidemic that hit Brno 155 years ago. It broke out simultaneously with the invasion of the Prussian army. A total of 2,813 people fell ill.

According to contemporary medical records, the health of Brno residents was good until then. There was no significant incidence of infectious diseases. The locals were infected only by Prussian and Saxon soldiers who brought cholera to the town in mid-July 1866. They arrived in Brno after the victorious battle of Hradec Králové.

The number of soldiers accommodated often outnumbered the family members. The soldiers were distinguished by their great appetite, often overeating, which itself led to digestive disorders, which made them easy prey for the cholera epidemic.

"The soldiers also behaved recklessly during requisitions, thus deteriorating the cleanliness of the yards of the houses, which "The Internet Encyclopaedia of the History of the City of Brno says.

Even the newspapers at the time wrote about the terrible epidemic. For example, Moravská Orlice was published. "Fear, poverty, gluttony and drinking, intemperance, filth, crowdedwho was not afraid and did not shy away, also nothing happened to him so easily. It is a strange thing, it is an open disease, and yet a mystery. One man overcame it by drinking beer, another by drinking rum, a third by holding ice under his tongue so that he would not vomit, a fourth by warm compresses, but there are no general rules, not even Nelaton in Paris," people could read in the press at the time.

The first ever cases of Cholera in Brno occurred in Komárov on 18 July. Subsequently, the epidemic spread throughout the city. Some of the soldiers were also billeted in Holásky.

When they showed symptoms of the dangerous disease, they were treated by doctors in Tuřany. A cholera cemetery was also established near the chapel of St. Anthony in what is now Lesná. Several mass graves of infected soldiers have only recently been uncovered by the Brno authorities.

Similar epidemics plagued the whole of Europe in the nineteenth century. The reason was poor sanitary conditions. "At that time they were bad, there was only one well in the village, and sewage was exported to the fields," said Renata Ciupek, director of the anti-epidemic department of the Brno sanitary authority.

Sources: https://encyklopedie.brna.cz/, www.denik.cz