Louis Kuhne

Louis Kuhne grave in the south cemetery in Leipzig

Louis Kuhne (born March 14, 1835 in Lössen near Delitzsch / Saxony , † April 4, 1901 in Leipzig ) was a German naturopath in the successor of Theodor Hahn and contemporary of Sebastian Kneipp and like him a representative of hydrotherapy . He was said to be the inventor of the sit-in bath .

Act

Kuhne was a supporter of vegetarianism and generally rejected the use of table salt and sugar as harmful. In his opinion, all illnesses were ultimately based on a condition that he termed toxemia , which he assumed was self-poisoning of the body from toxins and waste materials that were not excreted. This leads to pathological changes in organs. He presented this theory in his work Die neue Heilwissenschaft . Above all , he saw poor digestion with constipation as the cause of many ailments.

In 1883 Kuhne founded his own treatment center in Leipzig, where he used various methods of hydrotherapy. The Sitz rubbing bath , in which the patient rubbed their genitals in a tub of cold water for about ten minutes, was intended to move the toxins that have accumulated in the body towards the intestines, from where they could later be excreted.

Sitz bath

The lay healer Kuhne himself gives an exact description of the seated rubbing bath for women and men in The New Healing Science, whereby a footrest is placed in the tub and this is filled with cold water up to the height of the seat. “The bather then sits down (…), dips a coarse linen cloth (…) into the water underneath and now begins to gently wash the genitals with that cloth, fetching as much water as possible. No other part of the body comes into contact with the water. It should be particularly emphasized that this washing should only affect the outer, not the inner, pubic parts, and that there should be no sharp rubbing back and forth, but only gentle washing with as much water as possible. (...) The temperature of the water for the friction seat bath is as cold as nature offers it (8–12 ° R. = 10–14 ° C) (…). The duration of this bath is 10–60 minutes, depending on the age and strength of the patient. (…) For men (…) the outer edge d. H. the tip of the foreskin washed under water. It is best for the bather to hold the protruding foreskin together in front of the tip of the glans with the middle and index finger (...) so that the latter is completely covered by the foreskin and now gently washes under cold water with a jute or linen cloth the size of a handkerchief he holds the outermost point or edge of the protruding foreskin under water in his right hand. "

The chosen parts of the body are particularly suitable for the seated rubbing bath because most of the nerves converge here, so that the entire nervous system of the organism can be positively influenced in this way.

Fonts

The new healing science or the doctrine of the unity of diseases. Self-published in Leipzig 1883; New editions 1891 (up to 1936 a total of 123 editions)
Raising children: a reminder and advice for parents and educators. Leipzig 1892.
Am i healthy or ill? A touchstone and advisor for everyone. Self-published, Leipzig 1894.
Cholera, vomiting, diarrhea and similar diseases, their development, non-drug treatment and cure. Self-published, Leipzig 1894.
Facial Expression Studies Textbook. Leipzig 1899.

literature

Alfred Brauchle : Louis Kuhne. The successful naturopath in the big city. In: Alfred Brauchle: History of naturopathy in life pictures. 2nd ext. Ed. By Große Naturärzte. Reclam, Stuttgart 1951, pp. 292-297.
Jörg Melzer: Whole food nutrition. Dietetics, naturopathy, National Socialism, social demands. Steiner, Stuttgart 2003, pp. 94-100.

Web links

Commons : Louis Kuhne - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Kuhne, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German naturopath
DATE OF BIRTH	March 14, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH	Loosen
DATE OF DEATH	April 4, 1901
Place of death	Leipzig