Physical anthropologists can use these data as a true reference group for their palaeodemographic studies of preindustrial Central Europe of the late 18th and early 19th century. This research has an explicit interdisciplinary value for various fields including both the humanities and natural sciences, since information reported here represents the complete age and sex structure of a deceased population. Bern's data indicate that the extent of deaths related to childbirth in this period is overrated. Relevance of childbed fever in the early 1800s was low. The maternal death rate of 0.72% is comparable with values calculated from contemporaneous sources. Possibilities such as infant tetanus or infant epilepsy are discussed. The exact modern identification of this disease remains unclear. Apparently, the worst killer of infants up to 12 months was the 'gichteren', an obsolete German term for lethal spasmodic convulsions. Nowadays, there are many languages and software. Nonetheless, death from metabolic disorders, illnesses of the respiratory system, and debilitation were the most prominent causes in Bern. NetLogo (Wilensky, 1999) is a modeling environment designed for coding and running agent-based simulations. The study of the causes of death was inhibited by difficulties in translating early 19th century nomenclature into the modern medical system.

Mortality was high in winter and spring, and decreased in summer to a low level with a short rise in August. This could have simply indicated better living conditions. In comparison to other cities and regions in Central Europe, Bern's mortality structure shows low rates for infants (q(0)=0.144) and children (q(1-4)=0.068). NetLogo is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. It was authored by Uri Wilensky in 1999 and has been in continuous development ever since at the Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling. Special attention was given to causes of death and mortality of newborns, infants and birth-giving women. NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena. Furthermore, the susceptibility of age groups to certain causes of death was established. The causes of death were classified and their frequency calculated. Life tables of Bern's population were created using different models. Information concerning these individuals provides the basis for this study. Between 18, 4,390 deceased inhabitants were registered. Critical assessment of the register's origin, formation and upkeep promises high validity and reliability. This register is one of the earliest compilations of data sets of individuals with this high degree of completeness and consistency.

The key source is a burial register that contains information on the deceased, such as age and sex, residence and cause of death. This article contributes to the research on demographics and public health of urban populations of preindustrial Europe.

Netlogo and