Franz Seraph A. Widnmann

Franz Widnmann, gouache / ivory, around 1815

Franz Widnmann (full name Franz Seraph Amand Widnmann ; born March 19, 1765 in Marktoffingen ; † January 27 or January 28, 1848 in Munich ) was a German doctor and pioneer of homeopathy .

Life

Franz Widnmann was born in Marktoffingen as the youngest of 17 children. His father Johann Baptist Widnmann (1709–1792) was a councilor and senior bailiff in Marktoffingen, married to Anna Zinsmeister (1721–1766), daughter of the Kronenwirt from Wallerstein.

After completing his school education in Augsburg , Widnmann went to Dillingen to study theology there, but changed his mind and went to Ingolstadt , where he devoted himself to studying medicine. He received his doctorate in Würzburg in 1792 . When Widnmann was still a student, he found his livelihood by teaching. After completing his medical training, he settled as a doctor in Wallerstein. In 1798 he was appointed court doctor in Eichstätt and then appointed personal physician and medical advisor to the prince-bishop. He married the widow of his predecessor Ulrich, Maximiliana, geb. Poeckhel (1774-1853). The marriage had seven children. The youngest of the three brothers was the later sculptor Max von Widnmann . The family lived in their own house at Luitpoldstrasse 16 in Eichstätt.

In 1817 Eichstätt was awarded to the Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt, Eugen Beauharnais (Napoleon's stepson and Viceroy of Italy from 1805 to 1813), who was married to Auguste, the daughter of the Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph. Immediately after his arrival in Eichstätt, the duke had drawn the previous episcopal court medicus into his personal service.

In July 1823, Widnmann accompanied Eugen Beauharnais, who was already ill, to the spa in Marienbad . At the end of 1823 the Duke's illness worsened. Widnmann also took over the Duke's medical care in Munich until his death on February 21, 1824. In the meantime he had settled with his family in the up-and-coming city, as he was there for his Children hoped for a better future.

On March 31, 1842, Widnmann celebrated the anniversary of his medical career when he was awarded an honorary degree. Widnmann practiced continuously until a few weeks before his death from pneumonia on January 27, 1848.

He was also a pioneer of homeopathy and a student of Samuel Hahnemann .

His essay “Some Thoughts on Homeopathy” is considered a “critically benevolent essay” on homeopathy. “He expresses himself conditionally and asks whether the little gifts have a homeopathic effect, or allopathic effect, or even enantiopathic effect. This makes Widnmann the first to raise this question without it having been resolved to this day. He wants all three healing methods to be used. "

His writings were circulated throughout Hufeland's Journal, the Hygea, etc. His son Ludwig Adolf (1799–1881) became a pharmacist and founded the city pharmacy in Munich.

literature

• Fritz D. Schroers: Widnmann, Franz Seraph Amand . In: Lexicon of German-speaking homeopaths . Haug, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-8304-7254-4 , pp. 163 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ goruma.de: Well-known personalities. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 3, 2013 ; accessed on December 1, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Fritz D. Schroers: Widnmann, Franz Seraph Amand . In: Lexicon of German-speaking homeopaths . Haug, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-8304-7254-4 , pp. 163 ( books.google.de ).
3. ↑ Journal of practical medicine. 57, No. 5, 1823, pp. 3-33. In: Rudolf Tischner : History of Homeopathy. Springer-Verlag 1932 (reprint 1998, ISBN 3-211-83101-0 ), p. 417.