Wilhelm Hufnagel

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Wilhelm Hufnagel (born April 25, 1848 in Ravolzhausen ; † November 28, 1924 in Bad Orb ) was a German doctor , benefactor , founder and director of the children's hospital in Bad Orb.

Wilhelm Hufnagel bench in the garden of the Spessart Clinic, with a memorial plaque

Life, family

(Karl Friedrich) Wilhelm Hufnagel was the second son of the teacher and cantor Heinrich Hufnagel (born January 2, 1815 in Oberissigheim ; † February 19, 1887 in Ravolzhausen) and his wife Anna Maria Margaretha Kuhl (born July 18, 1815 in Ravolzhausen; † Born May 15, 1901 in Ravolzhausen). His grandfather Johannes Hufnagel (born July 25, 1783 in Hintersteinau , † April 19, 1867 in Rumpenheim ) was already a teacher. Wilhelm probably attended, as did his older brother (Johann) Friedrich Hufnagel (born January 1, 1840 in Ravolzhausen, † February 6, 1916 in Kesselstadt ) the high school (Hanau) . He then studied medicine at the Philipps University in Marburg . During his studies he became a member of the Arminia Marburg fraternity in 1866 . In the first days of the Franco-Prussian War, on July 30, 1870, he completed his doctorate and thus obtained the " doctorate at the medical faculty in Marburg". On July 24, 1900, Hufnagel was appointed to the Royal Prussian Medical Council , and in 1912 to the "Secret Medical Council".

Hufnagel was married to Elisabeth Senz (* 1855 Gelnhausen, † April 10, 1930, Bad Orb). The marriage resulted in two sons and four daughters. The son Viktor Hufnagel, like his father Wilhelm, was a doctor and at times was associated with Bad Orb and the children's hospital as a further doctor.

Professional and public work

Hufnagel gained his first professional experience as a young assistant doctor in the field hospital in Frankfurt am Main , during the Franco-German War in 1870/71. After the war, in 1871, he opened a country doctor's practice in Bieber in Spessart. In 1879 he moved his practice to Bad Orb and was the only resident doctor to care for the slowly emerging spa town for almost 14 years. In this context, from 1880, he also worked as an attending physician in the hospital . Inspired by the development of Orbs into a medicinal bath, he had a bathing facility built into the hospital . Hufnagel also took over the duties of the vaccinator in the entire administrative district of Orb at that time, which extended into the Kinzig valley.

In the mid-eighties, Wilhelm Hufnagel healed his nephew, a son of his older brother Friedrich Hufnagel, who had a heart condition, with a four-week spa treatment in the Orb hospital. That was the impetus for the brothers to put a long-cherished idea into practice. On the initiative of Friedrich Hufnagel, the Hufnagel brothers invited to a meeting to set the course: "For the purpose of founding a children's sanatorium in Bad Orb ... in May 1884 several clergymen, doctors and officials ... came together for a meeting." The mental institution to be founded was intended for children who suffered from tuberculosis , heart disease , anemia and the like. It was a start with a lot of enthusiasm, but without financial resources. These should be provided through donations, contributions from the municipalities, care allowances, but above all through church and household collections.

50 years after Franz Leopold Koch set up a “ Soolebadeanstalt ” , a rapid development took its course. While the first little guests were still staying in a rented apartment in the city, after a few years their own property outside the city walls was acquired. The necessary sleeping quarters, a private bathroom (bath house "Bethesda") etc. could be built here gradually. The medical successes of treatment with brine baths - Wilhelm Hufnagel's special concern - and the involvement of adult patients also promoted the further development of the facility. The time fell when Franz Josef Scherf was the spa director and Orb was given the title of bathroom . The head and heart of the sanatorium was and remained from the beginning, its director Wilhelm Hufnagel. With the purchase of Villa Viktoria, with a large park area, in 1900, Hufnagel opened up further development potential for health and spa stays for adults. During this time, the sanatorium was the largest children's hospital in Germany and took in around 1500 sick children and 400 adults annually.

Hufnagel gained major sponsors for his sanatorium, such as Arthur von Weinberg , co-owner of the Cassella paintworks in Frankfurt. Several generous donations from Weinberg were essential for the development of the sanatorium, for example to build the most representative building of the entire complex, the "Willeminenhaus". The building was named after Willemine, Weinberg's wife from the Netherlands.

Hufnagel remained the director of the children's hospital for 40 years until his death. In 1999, the “Spessart Clinic” succeeded the historic establishment, the “Bad Orb Children's Hospital”.

aftermath

In the city of Bad Orb there are many souvenirs of the famous citizen Wilhelm Hufnagel. In the park of the Spessart Clinic, a very representative designed resting bench with a plaque commemorates the founder of the facility. This so-called “Hufnagelbank” was built in 1920, during Hufnagel’s lifetime, on the occasion of his 50th anniversary in his career . His resting place, in a prominent location at the Orber cemetery, is adorned with a large monument . Finally, the “Dr. Wilhelm-Hufnagel-Anlage´´, a green area near the spa park, his memory. It is only a short distance from Hufnagel's former place of work, on Kurparkstrasse, parallel to the Kurpark.

literature

  • “The History of the Spessart Clinic”, Elsbeth Ziegler, anniversary brochure, 2009; http://spessart-klinik.de/geschichte
  • "Dr. Hufnagel and the Development of the Children's Hospital ”, v. Jürgen Blumenthal, in "From sources, benefactors, doctors and merciful sisters", Orbensien - Verlag, 2013
  • "Orb-Chronik", Peter Georg Bremer, June 2001, ISBN 3-8311-2230-X
  • “Trust in God and untiring energy”, Frankfurter Rundschau, July 9, 2009
  • "Dr. med. Wilhelm Hufnagel, his family and the children's sanatorium Bad Orb “, J. Blumenthal, in the Center for Regional History (Gelnhausen), 39th year, 2014.
  • Mitteilungsblatt - Gelnhausen: Center for Regional History, 2002. ISSN 0940-4198. - Vol. 39 (2014), pp. 63-69, Ill.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Dr. med. Wilhelm Hufnagel, his family and children's sanatorium Bad Orb ”, J. Blumenthal, in Center for Regional History ( Gelnhausen ), 39th year, 2014, p. 63
  2. ^ Hugo Böttger (ed.): Directory of the old fraternity members according to the status of the winter semester 1911/12. Berlin 1912, p. 91.
  3. ↑ "Dr. med. Wilhelm Hufnagel, his family and children's sanatorium Bad Orb ”, J. Blumenthal, in Center for Regional History (Gelnhausen), 39th year, 2014, p. 63
  4. ↑ "Dr. Hufnagel and the Development of the Children's Hospital ”, v. Jürgen Blumental, in "From sources, benefactors, doctors and merciful sisters", Orbensien - Verlag, 2013, p. 211
  5. ↑ "Dr. med. Wilhelm Hufnagel, his family and children's sanatorium Bad Orb ”, J. Blumenthal, in Center for Regional History (Gelnhausen), 39th year, 2014, p. 67
  6. ↑ "The History of the Spessart Clinic", anniversary brochure, 2009; http://spessart-klinik.de/geschichte , p. 1
  7. ↑ "Dr. Hufnagel and the Development of the Children's Hospital ”, v. Jürgen Blumental, in "From sources, benefactors, doctors and merciful sisters", Orbensien - Verlag, 2013, p. 205
  8. ↑ "Dr. Hufnagel and the Development of the Children's Hospital ”, v. Jürgen Blumental, in “From sources, benefactors, doctors and merciful sisters”, Orbensien - Verlag, 2013, pp. 205/206
  9. ↑ "The History of the Spessart Clinic", anniversary brochure, 2009, p. 1; http://spessart-klinik.de/geschichte
  10. ↑ "Dr. Hufnagel and the Development of the Children's Hospital ”, v. Jürgen Blumental, in "From sources, benefactors, doctors and merciful sisters", Orbensien - Verlag, 2013, p. 207
  11. ^ "Orb-Chronik", Peter Georg Bremer, June 2001, ISBN 3-8311-2230-X , p. 27
  12. ↑ "Dr. med. Wilhelm Hufnagel, his family and children's sanatorium Bad Orb ”, J. Blumenthal, in Center for Regional History (Gelnhausen), 39th year, 2014, p. 69

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hufnagel, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Ravolzhausen
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1924
Place of death Bad Orb