Historical Considerations on the Former Fires and Population of Bozen

Appendix.

History.

On the Former Fires of the City of Bozen.

In relation to what was reported in No. 94, year 1821 of these papers concerning a great fire in Bozen in the year 1224, in which 1500 people are said to have perished, we allow ourselves to excerpt several passages from a fine treatise: "Die Staatswirthschaft im deutschen Reich, bis auf Kaiser Rudolph von Habsburg" in the Europäische Annalen No. XII of the 1820 volume, in which the state of German cities in those ancient times is depicted.

"People accumulated rapidly within them (in the cities), crowded closely together in the narrow space and even narrower streets, always lived in filth and uncleanness, because the supply of linen was still small and public and domestic cleanliness – latrines did not exist – was not yet demanded. Thus epidemics broke out, which spread to the rural population and are said to have wiped out a third of the population on several occasions. Notwithstanding this, the cities flourished ever more splendidly. . . . "

"The first new work of the era, the construction of city walls, was followed by the building of town halls, market squares, public fountains, etc. – In the 12th century, brick kilns became common; chimneys only in the 14th century. . . . "

"In general, greatness and splendor were shown in all public structures, while poverty was still evident in individual property; one saw only citizens' houses of wood, roofed with straw, without chimneys. . . . "

"The human stock was vigorous and strong; the sickly indoor workers of the present day did not exist; on the other hand, however, princes lived even less comfortably and easily than peasants do now. . . . "

"Thus it appears that a quarter of the population lived in fortified settlements." As proof of the large population in the cities, it is cited that under Emperor Henry V over 1200 inhabitants burned to death at Oppenheim.

If we transfer this picture of that era to the city of Bozen (and we have no reason to imagine a different or better one for it), the incredibility that seems to lie, according to our modern concepts, in the figure of 1500 people burned in a single fire largely disappears. Furthermore, it is presumed without reason that Bozen's population at that time was smaller than today's. Without doubt it was much larger. – Everything that could sought protection within the fortified cities. The Aulic Councillor Baron von Hormayr asserts in Vol. II, p. 164 of his collected works in general that Tyrol's population in those days (at the time of the Counts of Eppan, who died out in the 13th century) was evidently far more numerous than today.