| 241. |
The Unhealthy Nourishment of Urban Workers as Depicted by a Bourgeois Social Reformer (1890)
Malnutrition was recognized as the underlying cause of many problems among urban workers, including high infant mortality and poor work performance. In this commentary from 1890, a bourgeois social....
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| 242. |
Workers’ Conception of Religion (1890)
In the last third of the nineteenth century, issues of popular piety and church attendance attracted the attention of politicians, social reformers, and statisticians, all of whom were sensitive....
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| 243. |
Working-Class Boarding Houses in Chemnitz and Berlin (1890)
Germany’s explosive population growth and urbanization made housing a social problem of immense proportions. In the 1860s tenements....
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| 244. |
Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Decree to Bismarck on Workers’ Protection and Social Policy (February 4, 1890)
In June 1888, after the death of both his grandfather and father earlier that year, Wilhelm II became German Kaiser. A showdown with the aging Bismarck, who had been appointed Prussian minister president....
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| 245. |
Bismarck’s Letter of Resignation (March 18, 1890)
After Kaiser Wilhelm II’s accession to the throne in June 1888, conflict between the old chancellor Bismarck and the 29-year-old emperor was almost inevitable. Tensions came to a head over the workers’....
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| 246. |
Interior of Workers' Homes in Hamburg and Karlsruhe (1891)
The large-scale migration of laborers from the countryside to the cities meant that urban housing became a major challenge. This passage, which was taken from reports by Protestant workers’ associations....
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| 247. |
Occupation of Mothers of Illegitimate Children Born in Berlin (1891)
In 1870-1871, 10-12% of all births in Germany were illegitimate; five years later this figure stood at about 8-10%, roughly where it remained until 1914. As was the case for centuries, illegitimate....
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| 248. |
The Sexual Morals of Working-Class Women: A Female View (c. 1891)
Minna Wettstein-Adelt (b. 1869) was inspired by Paul Göhre’s experiences as recounted in his book Three Months in a Workshop, which is excerpted in the previous document in this chapter. She....
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| 249. |
Theodor Fontane on Germany’s Historical Epochs and Aristocratic Decline: The Stechlin (1899)
Theodor Fontane (1819-1898) is regarded by many as the most important (and most enduring) German-language....
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