Town archives enable reconstruction of an outbreak of a flu epidemic and its consequences for Leipzig in 1918 in 1919. First news of the 'Spanish disease' reaching Leipzig appeared in local press on 1st July 1918. The danger was on purpose underestimated not to upset the public and weaken its 'moral resistance'. Eventually because of parents' protests schools were closed at the end of October. The statistics and resources of the archives indicate 1409 persons dying between July 1918 and March 1919. Naturally the youngest and the oldest suffered most fatalities. The disease caused also interference in public life when a theatre and a number of public institutions were closed and public gatherings forbidden.