Johann Schroth
Johann Schroth , also Johannes Schroth , (born February 11, 1798 in Böhmischdorf near Freiwaldau in Austrian Silesia , † March 26, 1856 in Lindewiese ) was a natural healer and inventor of the Schroth cure named after him . He was also called the bread roll doctor because dry rolls were an important part of the cure.
Life
There is different information about the date of birth of Johann Schroth, either 1797 or 1798; there is also an indication of February 2, 1800. In general, February 11, 1798 is assumed, although this is his baptism date; February 2nd is also mentioned as a birthday in contemporary literature. His birthplace, Böhmischdorf, belonged to Austrian Silesia . Another natural healer, Vincenz Prießnitz , was a schoolmate of Schroth's in elementary school. When Schroth was just 9 years old, his biological father, Johann Melchior Schroth (1747–1807), died. After the renewed marriage of his mother Theresia geb. Werner (d. 1836) the young Schroth came to the farm of his stepfather, the carter and widower Ignatz Gröger from Niederlindewiese (Unterlindeweise) near Freiwaldau, where the family moved and Johann Schroth then worked.
At the age of 18, Schroth was injured by a horse's hoofbeat on his right knee, which then remained stiff. A monk from the Order of the Brothers of Mercy is said to have advised him to use cold compresses. After several weeks Schroth noticed a clear improvement, whereupon he also applied this therapy to others (Prießnitz had also developed his water therapy in this way through an almost identical accident). Schroth attributed the healing effect above all to the moist warmth ("as a condition for the existence and prosperity of all bodies in the animal and plant world") and developed a whole body wrap.
Another element of his Schroth cure, the diet with dry days , Schroth took from observations on sick cattle, which then refused to feed, hardly drank and hardly moved. This gave him the idea of transferring this behavior to sick people as a cure. This method was apparently successful, and Schroth soon got the reputation of a miracle doctor to be, but was as a charlatan called and quackery accused. In the 19th century, the followers of the Prießnitz water cure and those of the Schroth cure got into a violent dispute over methods. The General German Biography says:
“But at both of the founding sites of the Curen, in Lindewiese and in Graefenberg, a lot has been sinned: one (Prießnitz, add.) Wanted to flood his sick with cold water, flood his sick with lots of drinks, with rough food by hardening the organism to heal itself; the other (Schroth, erg.) wanted to withdraw fluids as much as possible, to shy away from water inwardly and to pay homage to dry food and moist warmth. "
Even during Schroth's lifetime, there was not only hymns of praise but also fierce criticism, especially from doctors. One described the cure as a malnutrition diet , which is especially good for hypochondriacs .
Johann Schroth died of complications from a heart condition, and a memorial was erected to him in Lindewiese in 1870. His son Emanuel (1832–1890) continued the Schroth cures in his father's sanatorium. After his death, the Schrothsche Kuranstalt was on behalf of his underage son Rochus (1878-1913) by Karl Schroth senior. (1865–1915) medically forwarded. Rochus Schroth later initiated the establishment of a stock corporation , under which the health resort continued to exist until it was forcibly dissolved in 1945. Their last German chief physician, Karl Schroth jun. (1898–1946), died in Prague as a result of ill-treatment.
literature
- Alfred Brauchle : The player against Vinzenz Prießnitz . The carter Johann Schroth, Dürsten and the damp warmth. In: Alfred Brauchle: History of naturopathy in life pictures. 2nd edition of Große Naturärzte . Reclam, Stuttgart 1951, pp. 158-163.
- Erich Ebstein: Schroth, Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 54, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908, pp. 219-222.
- Theodor Hahn : Practical handbook of natural medicine. Without a doctor and medicine, without Prießnitz and Schroth. Schabelitz, Zurich 1866.
- G. Ludwig: Schroth (Schrod, Schrodt) Johann. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 11, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2803-7 , p. 256 f. (Direct links on p. 256 , p. 257 ).
- Heinz-Peter Schmiedebach: Schroth, Johann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , p. 599 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Hugo Scholz: Lindewiese's fasting doctor. Documentary story about Johann Schroth . Leimen-Heidelberg: Die Heimatbrücke, 1971, 32 p. (Sudetendeutscher Novellenring; Vol. 26)
- Hugo Scholz: legacy and secret of the naturopath Johann Schroth. 2nd Edition. Allgäuer Zeitungsverlag, Kempten 1981, ISBN 3-88006-069-X .
- Hubertus Averbeck: From cold water therapy to physical therapy . 1st edition. Europäische Hochschulverlag, Bremen 2012, here pp. 239–250, ISBN 978-3-86741-782-2
- Wolfgang Reimann (Ed.): Johann Schroth. Pioneer of hydrotherapy. Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 2019, ISBN 978-3-402-13384-2 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Johann Schroth in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert Jütte : Schroth, Johann. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1308 f., Here: p. 1308.
- ↑ Erich Ebstein: Schroth, Johannes . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 54, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908, pp. 219-222 (quotation at the end of the 4th paragraph).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schroth, Johann |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schroth, Johannes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Natural healer and inventor of the Schroth cure named after him |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 11, 1798 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bohemian village near Freiwaldau |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 26, 1856 |
| Place of death | Lindewiese |