Social Status and Cholera Deaths in the City of Poznań

This research was funded in whole by by the National Science Centre, Poland [UMO-2021/41/B/HS3/00594].
Paper produced based on the data attached has the following bibliographical data: Liczbińska G., Vögele J. P. Cholera in the City of Poznań: Did the Death Toll of the 1866 Cholera Epidemic Reflect Social and Economic Differences? Jahrb. f. Wirtschaftsg. 66(2): 341–364.
This study investigates the extent to which the 1866 cholera epidemic in Poznań mirrored existing social and economic disparities. Drawing on detailed individual data for 2,643 deceased persons from parish registers, it identifies substantial differences between city districts. Mortality was highest among the poorest groups, whose living conditions, nutritional status, hygiene, and occupational exposure heightened their vulnerability. Women engaged in domestic service or household work were particularly at risk. Although better-off residents contracted cholera less frequently, they exhibited higher fatality rates. The analysis underscores the multifaceted nature of a nineteenth-century urban epidemic.