Problem zdrowia i higieny na łamach „Gościa Świątecznego” – bezpłatnego dodatku do „Gazety Grudziądzkiej” w czasach zaboru pruskiego

• Authors: Niewęgłowska Aneta

Title variants

DE

Das Gesundheits- und Hygieneproblem auf den Seiten von „Weihnachtsgast” – eine kostenlose Beilage zur „Gazeta Grudziądzka” während der preußischen Teilungszeit

EN

The problem of health and hygiene in the pages of “Gość Świąteczny”, a free addition to “Gazeta Grudziądzka” newspaper during the Prussian partition

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The aim of this article is to present health and hygiene issues in “Gość Świąteczny”, a free addition to “Gazeta Grudziądzka” newspaper by Wiktor Kulerski. “Gość Świąteczny”, which appeared in the years 1894–1939, along with “Przyjaciel Dziatwy” was the most popular among the readers of “Gazeta Grudziądzka”. The nineteenth century brought significant changes in the approach towards the issues of health and hygiene. These changes were quite meticulously noticed by the press back then, including the analyzed title. The creators of “Gość Świąteczny” tried to influence the reality and educate their readers by promoting health beahaviors and popularizing the latest achievements of scientific and medical environment. The texts were written in an accessible language, which was understandable to the recipients, however, no authors were given. Only a few articles have information obout their authors. A lot of attention was devoted to the personal hygiene of both adults and children, pointing to the beneficial habit of keeping the body clean. Centuries of beliefs about negative impact of water on the human body made it extremely difficult to change the approach to this basic cleansing agent at that time. People were also encouraged to take care of the cleanliness of living quarters, emphasizing that in accordance with the state of medical knowledge at that time, the “health of home” is influenced by such factors as: lighting, heating, cloak access and water supply. In the pages of “Gość Świąteczny” there were also calls for proper nutrition, indicating that eating the right amount of food of a certain quality not only satisfies hunger, but also gives the body the energy to act and can have healing effects on it. What is more, the most common diseases, their symptoms and preventive measures were described. Drunkenness, one of the most harmful social deviations at that time, was criticized as the cause of many diseases and family breakdowns. The availability of medical care had also an impact on the health of the inhabitants. Even though the number of doctors increased every year, many inhabitants, especially the ones from small towns and rural areas, did not use their help, still relying on the knowledge and advice of all kinds of healers, grandmothers, sorcerers or herbalists.

• Publisher: Muzeum w Grudziądzu
• Journal: Rocznik Grudziądzki
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 29
• Pages: 79-98

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Niewęgłowska Aneta