“Illegitimacy” as a mass phenomenon. Unmarried mothers and their children in the 19th century

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Karin Orth
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 417228542

One of the most striking demographic changes in Europe in the early 19th century was the growing number of children that were born out of wedlock. The rates increased from 2 to 4%, in parts to over 20%, locally more than 60%. While the structural causes for this have been extensively researched, a social and cultural-historical examination of the "illegitimacy" as a mass phenomenon is lacking, so far. The proposed examination is meant to provide that. It intends to analyze the phenomenon of massive illegitimate births for Southwest Baden and the Swiss city Basel; however, instead of the classic structural history, the study will focus on the practices, experiences, and consequences of "illegitimacy". It will reveal the yet unexamined, fundamentally different forms of “illegitimacy”: the rural "illegitimacy" in the higher altitudes of the Black Forest, the migration of unmarried mothers with their children from the southwestern region of Baden into the USA and to Basel, and the microcosm of "illegitimacy" in the Basel hospital (Spital) and in the city of Basel. There also emerges a so far unrecognized network of trading in non-legitimate children of southwest Baden mothers, which took place in the Basel/Southwest Baden border region.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants