Bacchus, Tobacco and Venus: Sin and Temptation in the Long 19th Century

In the so-called “hygienic nineteenth century” the society was swamped with a plethora of advice and moral lessons aimed at prolonging people’s lives, strengthening their health as well as ensuring social prosperity. Hygienists did not only restrict themselves to the fields of hygiene and prevention of infectious diseases, but also focused on proper diet, promoted regular physical activity, and fought against all kinds of bad habits and addictions. They emphasised the importance of educating and informing the widest possible strata of the population, and they especially aimed to raise the awareness that life force could be strengthened, weakened or balanced by observing a few simple and completely rational rules of behaviour.