A big moment of German History: The Black Plague

The Black plague is a major part event in European history. Over the 5 year peak of the disease, about 1/3 of all Europe was wiped out. The black death was spread through rats, fleas and contact with the infected. The disease also became airborne that allowed people to contract the infection without being in direct contact with an infected person. 

The infected often lasted less than a week before dying. This image from the Toggenburg Bible depicts the infected. 

The disease was ruthless. It had over a 50% mortality rate. An infected person would experience headaches, back aches, fever, chills, vomiting and the appearance of sores on the body which might grow to the size of an orange. These sores would often burst and cause external bleeding, internal bleeding and the excrement of pus. Most infected would only survive about a week.

The plague had an interesting effect on Germany. Like many towns and cities in Europe, there was a shortage of food which caused the uprisings of rebellions and political turmoil. Overall, the aftermath of the plague led to the use of modern medicine and changes in public health. 

Religiously, the plague changed the way people saw their faith. After the plague many people turned their back on God based on the belief that God turned his back on them. However, not all lost faith. Those who remained in their faith took their faith more personally. The church was also changed because there were younger, less knowledgeable priests in the places of the priests who had perished in the plague.

In Germany particularly, the Plague was believed to have been caused by Jews poisoning the wells of Christians. By the time this plague was over, only a few Jews lived in that country. This is interesting because it shows the hostility that is aimed towards Jews which is also seen in WWII. 

 

This image is from the Friese Chronicles which depicts the massacre of Jews who were blamed for the Black Death

 

I am interested in this as I prepare to travel to Germany. I hope to contrast the culture from what I know of the middle ages to the present.