Florian Berndl

Florian Berndl (born May 10, 1856 in Großhaselbach ; † November 30, 1934 in Vienna ) was an Austrian naturopath .

The founder of the goose heap (standing in the boat)

Berndl was born in the Waldviertel as the son of a tailor and a midwife . From his mother he also acquired the knowledge that would later make him famous. At first he learned the tailoring trade like his father . After his military service, which he spent as a medic , he became a nurse in the Vienna General Hospital . He then worked as a masseur and pedicurist .

Berndl, his role model Sebastian Kneipp and a map

While hiking, he noticed the Gänsehäufel , an island in the Old Danube , which he was able to lease for 15 guilders a year in 1900 . He moved into a hut there with his wife and sons and began to realize his ideas of a natural way of life. Shortly afterwards, the Gänsehäufel bathing in the air and in the sun became an attraction for many Viennese, including such prominent people as Hermann Bahr . However, his views often brought Berndl into conflict with evidence-based medicine . He was also attacked by conservative journalists, for whom bathing women and men together was a thorn in the side. The lease was canceled in 1905 because Berndl did not have a license for the canteen in the bathroom .

Berndl then founds the New Brazil colony north of Gänsehäufel . However, he also returned to his old place of work and was initially head bath attendant at Gänsehäufel, and later also a supervisor for the children's recreation center established there. Despite the ban, he continued with his naturopathic treatments, which in 1913 led to his dismissal and eviction .

After that he wanted to make Bisamberg a health resort for poorer sections of the population, but had little success with it. Nevertheless, he spent the last 27 years of his life here. Bisamberg's swimming pool, the "Florian Berndl Bad", was named after him.

He rests in an honorary grave in the Vienna Central Cemetery (43C-1-21). Florian-Berndl-Gasse was named after him in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) .

literature

• D. Angetter:  Berndl, Florian . In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 . 2nd revised edition (online only).
• Barbara Denscher: Florian Berndl - Alternative life on the Danube , in Hubert Christian Ehalt - Manfred Chobot - Gero Fischer: Das Wiener Donaubuch , (1987 [year of first edition]) ISBN 3-7046-0085-7
• Reference to personal encounter with Florian Berndl in: Berndl Poldl: "... it will be a wine" The recordings of a Poysdorfer wine maker ", p. 18, Gösing 2007 (Edition Weinviertel; www.edition-weinviertel.at), ISBN 978 -3-901616-97-6
• Literary description of Florian Berndl in: Josef Pazelt : "Gesammelte Werke", p. 526f; Gösing 2007 (Edition Weinviertel; www.edition-weinviertel.at), ISBN 978-3-901616-74-7

Web links

• Entry for Florian Berndl in the database of the state's memory of the history of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )