Salzburg's path to prosperity: a historical discovery tour!

Salzburg's path to prosperity: a historical discovery tour!

The city of Salzburg employs an exciting project: The history of prosperity in the region is examined under the direction of Georg Stöger, historian at the University of Salzburg. The aim is to reconstruct the development from the 1830s to the 2010s. Stöger says that the examination not only illuminates achievements such as drinking water supply and waste water disposal, but also the profound changes that industrialization brought with it are considered. The project is called "The History History of Salzburg" and is located at the research institute for political-historical studies at Hanuschplatz, which is part of the Wilfried-Haslauer library of the State of Salzburg.

The institute is headed by Franz Schaussberger, the former governor, who is committed to promoting publications on the history of the federal states. It is interesting to draw the parallels to a similar project in Vienna and Lower Austria, which was initiated by Andreas Weigl from the University of Vienna in 2020. However, the focus in Salzburg is on the combination of social, economic and environmental history.

Medical progress and social challenges

A central element of the study is medical progress as an indicator of social prosperity. In particular, infant mortality can be viewed as an important yardstick. In the mid -19th century, infant mortality was in Salzburg with shocking 33 to 40 percent. This shows how close the prosperity and health of the population are linked. Historical data show that around 1870 a quarter of all newborns died in the first year of life. With the improvement of living and working conditions and medical progress in the following decades, this rate was drastically reduced. Today there are only about three out of 1,000 living born who do not survive the first year.

With regard to the regional differences in the development of prosperity, it is remarkable that the high mortality rate in rural regions of Flachgau surprises the researchers. The first major census in the monarchy took place in 1869 and laid the foundation for these findings. Collected data comes from regional archives and from the k. u. k. Statistics and the district offices of the state archive.

The welfare state in change

The emergence of historical care has its roots in church and private charitable structures. As the historians determine, the municipality increasingly took responsibility for the supply of poor in the 19th century. The distinction between "worthy" and "unworthy" poor, which has grown historically, is an exciting topic. The first approaches of a welfare state emerged 200 years ago, from the fear of revolutions and epidemics. The breakthrough of the welfare state ultimately took place after the world wars and fascism.

All of these aspects open the complexity of prosperity in Salzburg and illustrate how closely social development, medical progress and social responsibility are associated with each other. A look into the past is not only important for historians, but also gives us valuable insights into the social structures of our time. So it remains to be seen how the project will develop and what new knowledge will still come to light.