The hygienic modernisation of Munich was triggered by the cholera outbreak in 1854, which claimed over 2,000 victims. Pettenkofer erroneously considered the poor quality of the soil and of the groundwater to be the sole cause, and not the bacteria, which had been discovered by Robert Koch. Nevertheless, the measures pushed through by the scientific all-rounder were highly reasonable, so that no further epidemic occurred in Munich subsequently.
The extensive personal papers (Pettenkoferiana) of Max von Pettenkofer (1818 – 1901) are preserved by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.