Gott, Natur, Markt: Semantiken von Wirtschaftskrisen in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts = God, nature and the market: the semantics of economic crises in the second half of the 19th century

Abstract

The article compares the semantics of economic crises in the second half of the 19th century, focussing on the German-speaking world during the crises of 1857 and 1873. It examines, firstly, religious interpretations of the crises, arguing that these were on the wane. Even during the earlier crisis of 1857 they only played a role in a few instances. Secondly, the article examines the semantics employed by entrepreneurs, as found in annual reports by chambers of commerce. During both crises, the authors of these reports criticized the misdeeds of individual entrepreneurs. In 1857/58, this co-existed with the use of metaphors of physiology and meteorology. In the 1870s, by contrast, such metaphors were less frequent