Die Desinfektionsmaschinerie

This article tries to throw some light on the historical development of disinfection, a most active and aggressive form of purifying. Before the “bacteriological revolution” in the 1880s, the theoretical bases of the struggle against epidemics were very vague and diverse, so that “disinfection” and “deodorization” were often synonymous. An influence of disinfection campaigns on the epidemiological transition, however, is still to be discussed. With the systematic investigations on disinfection carried out by Robert Koch, the disinfecting machine was started properly. The social construction of this machinery however, is at least as important as the technological development. So the professionalisation of disinfectors and vermin exterminators is to be examined with regards to the institutional framework. Equipped with modern methods of pest control and with respect to etiological knowledge, vermin extermination became predominant in administrative discourse concerning disinfection since World War I. Later metaphors, thought and practice of Nazism are linked to these concepts of purification and destruction.