Johann Josef Kittel

Johann Josef Antonius Eleazar Kittel (born February 13, 1704 in Schumburg , Parish Nabsel , † November 16, 1783 in Schumburg ) was a Bohemian popular doctor and benefactor . Due to the healing of his illnesses, he became the center of his own legends as Faust of the Jizera Mountains .

Life

Johann Josef Kittel came from the family of glass manufacturers Kittel in Schumberg in the Jizera Mountains in Northern Bohemia and was an extraordinary healer and doctor of the 18th century. The local population suspected that he had supernatural powers and sought his help with illnesses and ailments of the body, soul and mind.

According to legends, he is said to have visited his patients in a flying coat, on a quick night ride on horseback or in a carriage and to have his knowledge from witch and magic books . So that he could heal people with medicinal herbs, he is said to have connected with the devil .

As a famous doctor he occupied the imagination of the population for half a century after his death, before their level of knowledge improved through schooling and superstition weakened. Since the 20th century he has been regarded as a person who, through diligence, talent, learning and the ability to further develop healing methods from the experiences of his ancestors, was able to lead a life as a recognized doctor and healer.

Johann Kittel, who survived a plague epidemic at the age of nine , learned the first healing methods from his father Melchior Kittel. He received no special training as a pupil or student; he learned from books as an autodidact. From the district administration in Jungbunzlau he received the title "Attestat Incorporationis et Approbationis", an authorization to perform surgical interventions.

After successful practice, he became the personal physician of the Count Desfours and received a secure income. He treated the poor people in the mountains around Gablonz mostly without a fee or in exchange for goods. When visiting the sick, he walked several kilometers every day. He visited patients in the lonely corners of the mountain valleys on a horse, wrapped in a black coat that fluttered in the wind. Wearing the black coat was interpreted as belonging to the order of Francis of Assisi , whom he often visited in Turnov (Turnau) and who cared for poor sick people.

Kittel married Anna Maria, née Günther, the daughter of a glass cutter from Kokonín (Kukan) on November 25, 1727 in the church of St. Michael von Morchenstern , and had twelve children with her.

The year 1738 was fateful for him, when he broke in while riding across the frozen Elbe , fell ill and fought for a long time to survive. After that he no longer achieved his ability as a healer. His fortune or other funding must have been considerable. In 1752, on his initiative, the construction of the baroque church of St. Joseph of Nazareth began . He died on November 16, 1783, old age and blind, in Schumburg (Krásná). His grave has not been preserved.

Memories of his life

The life of Kittel was filmed on the original location in 2007. Several local manufacturers offer products (herbal liqueurs) and use the name Dr. Smock .

Smock house

The Smock House (2012)

In Krásná, the former Schumburg, a district of the municipality of Pěnčín u Jablonce nad Nisou in the Czech Republic , the smock house - also called Burk - has been preserved, which was in disrepair until 2006. The house housed a pharmacy during Kittel's lifetime and people from the area as well as from Vienna and Prague are said to have been cured there. One of them was Johann Wenzel Wiesner , a tutor from Vienna. He is said to have also taught the children of the Kittel couple and is considered the founder of the Schumburg primary school after the introduction of compulsory schooling.

In 2006 the municipality began renovating the house. The project was funded by the Ministry for Regional Development in Prague with three million crowns. Most of the top two floors were removed and a protective roof was built over the house.

Smock Museum

On the occasion of the traditional festival of the parish fair in Krásná, the Kittel Museum was opened on May 1st 2010 in house no. This house was probably a farm building belonging to the former castle. The museum is open from May to September.

literature

• Heribert Sturm : Biographical lexicon on the history of the Bohemian countries. Published on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum . Vol. 2, R. Oldenbourg Verlag Munich 1984, ISBN 3-486-52551-4 , p. 152 f.
• Jeschken-Iser-Jahrbuch 20, 1976, pp. 45-50, Helmut Preußler Verlag Nürnberg
• Isergebirgs-Rundschau. Gablonzer Heimatbote 26, 1972 F.6; 5, 1951 F.1, Helmut Preußler Verlag Nuremberg
• Sudetendeutsche Zeitung (1951 ff.) September 14, 1962
• Karl Rudolf Fischer (1871–1934): Dr. Smock. The North Bohemian Faust, 1924
• Adolf Lilie (Ps. Wolfgang Schild) (1851-1912): The political district of Gablonz, 1895, pp. 501-504, Gablonz Verlag des Gablonz-Tannwalder teachers' association.

Web links

• Dr. Kittel in the Gutenberg-DE project
• Information about the Kittelhaus and its renovation (Czech)
• Information about life and the film project (German / Czech)
• Information about the museum opened in 2010 (German / Czech)