The 18th century “vampire epidemics” in Central and Eastern Europe are mentioned in a (deleted) scene between Professor Von Franz, Dr. Sievers and Friedrich Harding, where the Professor asks Sievers to share Glaser’s account on the “pestilent revenants of the eastern frontiers of the Hapsburg Empire”.
Glaser was a “Contagions-Medicus” (a sort of infectious disease specialist) send to investigate epidemic outbreaks in a small village in Serbia. His conclusion: a vampire was the cause (and his report is available online). Based on his scientific views (“contagionism”), Glaser “medicalized” vampirism as an infectious disease; the bite of a vampire would turn others into vampires; which created a new vampire myth, inspired countless writers to this day, including Bram Stoker.
Since this doesn’t apply to “Nosferatu” (2024) and Count Orlok’s victims just die of plague and to become a vampire in the “Nosferatu” tale, one has to make a Faustian bargain (sell their soul to the Devil), the “account” in the film is also incorrect, on purpose, otherwise it could confuse the audience:
“A plague ravaged the countryside. The alleged cause... a walking corpse that maintained a semblance of life by feeding on the heart blood of the living. Every victim succumbed to death.”
Since this literal contagion of vampirism (there’s the metaphorical, though) isn’t exactly relevant to the narrative of the film, I don’t think it’s worth discussing it further. Here are some papers and essays for those interested in learning more about this topic:
Peter J. Bräunlein; “The frightening borderlands of Enlightenment: The Vampire Problem” (2012)
Ádám Mézes; “Doubt and diagnosis: Medical experts and the returning dead of the southern Habsburg borderland (1718-1766)” (2019) [PDF available online]
Ádám Mézes; “Vampire Contagion as a Forensic Fact: The Vampires of Medveđa in 1732” (2020)
Clemens Ruthner; “Outbreaks of the Balkan Village Vampire in the Eighteenth Century” (2024)
