Sebastian Kneipp As a Priest and Therapist – Traditions Kneipp’S Method in Opole Silesia

SEBASTIAN KNEIPP AS A PRIEST AND THERAPIST – TRADITIONS KNEIPP’S METHOD IN OPOLE SILESIA

Erwin Mateja*

Sebastian Kneipp as a Priest and Therapist-Traditions Kneipp’s Method in Opolian Silesia

Streszczenie

Referat jest przedstawieniem osoby ks. Sebastiana Kneippa w dwóch obrazach. Pierwszy pokazuje go jako proboszcza bawarskiej parafi i, który dba o rozwój życia duchowego swoich parafi an, ale też o to, by prowadzili zdrowy tryb życia. W tym celu wykorzystywał on autorytet księdza, który z ambony robi miejsce głoszenia słowa Bożego, ale też miejsce na wykłady o zaletach zdrowotnych wody, ruchu i zdrowego odżywiania się. Następnie jest pokazany Sebastian Kneipp jako ten, który z mało znanej bawarskiej parafi i uczyni miejscowość uzdrowiskową, w której ludzie będą odzyskiwać zdrowie głównie dzięki wypracowanym przez niego metodom leczenia wodą. Trzecia odsłona referatu przenosi czytelnika na Opolszczyznę, a konkretnie do Kamienia Śląskiego i znajdującego się tam, działającego od kilkunastu lat, Instytutu Naukowo-Badawczego Księdza Sebastiana Kneippa oraz Zespołu Rehabilitacyjno- Wypoczynkowego „Sebastianeum Silesiacum”, do którego przeniesiono doświadczenia medyczne z Bad Wörishofen.

Sebastian Kneipp was born on May 17, 1821 in Stephansried - a small town in Swabia near Ottobeuren. His father, Franz Xaver Kneipp, was a weaver and barely supported his family of seven. Sebastian’s mother, Maria Rosina, brought two daughters from her ﬁ rst marriage - Magdalena and Maria, and in the second she gave birth, apart from Sebastian, Teresa and Victoria. Sebastian completed six classes of elementary school, followed by six classes of the so-called Sunday school. Due to the poverty of the family,

* Prof. Dr. hab., Faculty of Theology University of Opole-POLAND

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he stopped school and started working with weaving baskets. However, his dream was pastoral work, which unfortunately seemed unreal. „I was twenty-one years old when I left my family village with a service book in my pocket. In the booklet it was written that I was a weaving journeyman, but something else was written on the pages of my heart from my youth. Long, long years, I waited without longing for this journey, which was to fi nally fulfi ll my dream and realize my ideals. I wanted to become a priest”[1]. Despite unfavorable circumstances, Kneipp found a patron in the person of prelate dr. Matthias Merkle, then vicar in Grönenbach, who prepared him for two years for the entrance exam to the gymnasium. Due to poor health, science was moving slowly. In the autumn of 1844, at the age of 23, Sebastian Kneipp was admitted to the gymnasium in Dillingen. In 1845, he was diagnosed with the fi rst signs of pulmonary tuberculosis. Despite the care of a military doctor, brought in by Fr. Merkle, his health worsened, hemoptysis and severe weakness appeared. However, Kneipp received his secondary school-leaving certifi cate at the age of 27. In 1848, despite the ongoing disease process, he began to study theology in Dillingen.

In 1849 he discovered in the library in Dillingen a booklet published in 1749 by dr. med. Johann Siegemund Hahn, doctor from Schweidnitz (now Świdnica), titled: „The miraculous healing power of fresh water with external and internal application on the human body, conﬁ rmed by experience”[2]. The author of the book recommended the use of cold water at any time of the year to strengthen the body and soul. He recommended baths, showers, washing, rubbing, compresses, rinsing the nose, immersing the head in water. The complement of hydrotherapy was to be a fruit and vegetable diet and outdoor exercise. Under the inﬂ uence of this reading, Kneipp applied himself for 3-4 seconds bathing in the Danube in 10-15 degrees water, after which, without wiping, he ran to the seminar. After the treatments fatigue subsided and faith in regaining health returned, strength and willingness to learn slowly returned. In 1850 Sebastian was transferred to the ducal Gregorianum in Munich. Here, well-fed, he regularly took baths in the river and - as he wrote in his biography – „he felt better day by day”[3]. He also found a companion of his interests, a student whom he initiated into the arcana of hydrotherapeutic knowledge and, together with him, submitted to the recommendations of dr. Hahn.

1 S. Kneipp, Moje leczenie wodą, Kempten 1891, s. 7. 2 J.S. Hahn, Die wunderbare Heilkraft des frischen Wassers bei dessen innerlichem und äußerlichen Gebrauch auf die Leiber der Menschen durch die Erfahrung bestätigt, Leipzig 1749. 3 S. Kneipp, Aus meinem Leben. Selbstbiographie, Bad Wörishofen 1979.

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In August 1852, at the age of 31, Sebastian Kneipp graduated in theology and was ordained a priest at the cathedral in Augsburg, and in the same year he celebrated his ﬁ rst mass at the basilica in Ottobeuren. After being ordained, he settled as a vicar in the church of the Holy Cross in Biberbach, and then in Boss and in the church of St. Gregory in Augsburg. Throughout, he deepened his knowledge of hydrotherapy and applied it in everyday life. Analyzing his work, we will notice numerous substantive gaps. However, it cannot be denied that he had some knowledge about hydrotherapy: he mentioned the use of water for healing purposes in ancient times by the Romans, he knew the concept of Priessnitz, which he wrote very positively, calling him a „great man”[4]. Due to unconventional interests, he often drew the dissatisfaction of his superiors, e.g. in Boss he paid the penalty of two guilders for helping the patient. The turmoil around him grew, he was given a career ban. He turned the written recommendations given to patients into learning by heart and repeated the type, number, series and dosage of treatments several times with each patient in order not to provide documents that could be used against him[5]. As we read in the biography in 1854, during his stay in Boss he used hot, six-minute compresses with vinegar in a patient diagnosed with cholera[6]. He gained more and more recognition of the sick, but due to numerous complaints and accusations of spreading quackery, he was transferred on May 2, 1855 to the Dominican convent in Wörishofen, where he became confessor. There his organizational skills are revealed, he improved the economy of the monastery, gaining the fame of a good host and friend of bees. At the same time, throughout his pastoral work, he helped the sick by applying cold watering and encouraging them to change their diet. An increasing number of patients who heard about the healing skills of Fr. Kneipp. He accepted them for free or on a free donation basis.

In 1881 he took the presbytery in the parish of St. Justyna in Wörishofen. There were more and more patients, and the two roadside houses in the town were starting to be too small to accommodate all those in need. The spa was slowly forming. Sebastian Kneipp modiﬁ ed his method: he added drinking brews and herbal teas, treatment with honey and a proper, simple diet, appreciating the importance of exercise, he recommended patients long walks around the area and gymnastics at home, he gave health advice. His avant-garde sermon for those times enjoyed great popularity

4 Idem, Kodocyl do mojego testamentu, Kempeten 1890, s.16. 5 E. Ortner, Sebastian Kneipp. Seine Lebensgeschichte, München 1994, s. 34. 6 S. Kneipp, Mein Testament für Gesunde und Kranke, Kempten 1894, s. 25.

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among parishioners, in which he practiced a kind of health promotion, encouraging him to take care of health through the use of cold pouring and diet, as well as changing the way of life[7]. The strength of Kneipp’s speeches was that they were not the theory of a healthy life, but the testimony of a man who, based on his own experience, expressed in his personal life what he was talking about and what he required. Without a doubt, he was also a person able to motivate and inﬂ uence others thanks to his character traits. He is described as a mentally strong, resolute, fair, and even harsh person, but not without care for his parishioners[8]. The popularity of his method resulted, among others, from making water treatment available to poor people and introducing them „under the thatched roofs”. Kneipp prescribed patients self-treatment at home. Therefore, his treatment in a short time gained many supporters, even the opinion was born that the Kneipp method is more eﬀ ective than the Prießnitz method[9].

Sebastian Kneipp also became famous as the author of books on the method he developed. In 1886, at the urging of Archbishop M. Wolter, he published the fi rst of them „My treatment with water” (Mein Wasserkur), and in 1889 another one – „So you need life” (So sollt ihr leben). In 1888, he published the fi rst issue of the outgoing Kneipp Blätter magazine („Kneipp News”), in which, in 1891, his biography „From my life” (Aus meinem Leben) appeared in episodes, and four subsequent books: in 1893 „Guide for the sick and the healthy” (Ratgeber für Kranke und Gesunde), in 1894 „Guide for the care of children in health and disease” (Kinderpfl ege in gesunden und kranken Tagen), in 1891 „My will for the healthy and the sick“ (Mein Testament für Gesunde und Kranke) and „Kodocyl to my will” from 1896 (Codozill zu meinem Testament), and in 1892 „Atlas of medicinal plants” (Atlas der Heilpfl anzen). From 1881 to 1896 calendars were published - Annals of Fr. Kneipp. In his earlier works, he mainly discusses the use of water treatments and a simple diet, while in the last book, in „Kodocyl”, we fi nd, among others, indications for the use of ice bags, for exercises and gymnastics, as well as a chapter on the construction and care of the human body, fi rst aid or remarks on stimulants[10].

In 1890, he founded the ﬁ rst foundation of his name, and thanks to

7 Idem, Ratgeber für Gesunde und Kranke, Wörishofen 1891, s.14. 8 S. Burghardt, Bad Wörishofen. Wieʼs war - Wieʼs würde - Wieʼs ist, Bad Wörishofen 1992, s. 8. 9 M. Migała, Uzdrowisko Bad Ziegenhals (Głuchołazy) na tle pobliskich kurortów w XIX oraz I połowie XX wieku i jego znaczenie dla rozwoju lecznictwa na Śląsku, Opole 2003, s. 39. 10 I. Trzewikowska, „Miejsce metody Sebastiana Kneippa we współczesnej ﬁ zjoterapii”, Fizjoterapia, 2003, R 11, z. 11, s. 67.

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the profi ts from published books, the sale of grain coff ee licenses and donations made by the sick, he initiated the construction of the fi rst health resort houses in Bad Wörishofen, which still operate today. In 1890, the construction of a house for priests began, which today functions as the sanatorium Sebastianeum; for this purpose, he allocated 103 thousand marks and another 75 thousand for its expansion. In 1893, he began building a health resort house for patients with Kneippianum skin diseases, for the construction of which he collected 112,000 marks, and the nuns who managed it later invested another 75,413 marks in its expansion[11]. In the book „My Testament” he writes: „For treatment I fi rst used my laundry in the garden, when this was not enough, two bathrooms were made behind the monastery, one for women and the other for men. For men I taught Jan Kusterman to swim, and for women Rozyna and Teresa, my cousins. However, when these bathrooms turned out to be slim, I was helped by L. Geromiler and F. Kreuzer, the inhabitants of our village. Each of them built a nice house with bathrooms for men and women. Later, I built a spacious house for priests; free rooms could be rented and lay people”[12].

Kneipp’s youngest investment was very nicely located on a hill behind the city, the Children’s Asylum, whose construction began in 1895 and which consumed 284,000 marks. In a short time, it was completed and became the ﬁ rst children’s sanatorium in the city. Thanks to these activities, Kneipp joined in the process of prevention activities among children. The fame of the waterman from Wörishofen, the so-called „Wasserdoktor”, became increasingly widespread, and his method was also increasingly controversial. In addition to including supporters, there were also opponents, available in large numbers from doctors who were unfavorable to him. In the „Medical Chronicle” of 1892 we read: „Summing up everything, we seem to say that tithes and hundreds of well-used scientiﬁ cally used hydrotherapy devices, patients done best, if you use Father Kneipp will leave his parishioners available, when you are elsewhere you are not in able to seek help”[13].

In an extensive article in 1897, Dr. Jasiński takes a critical stand on the Kneipp method, accusing him of using his hypnotic skills towards patients and pointing to the „similarity of kneippism to hypnotism”. He recalls

11 I. Spielvogel, K. Konecki, Początki zorganizowanego lecznictwa uzdrowiskowego dla dzieci metodą Sebastiana Kneippa, [w:] A. Magowska, K. Pękacka-Falkowska (red.), Poznań 2017, s. 66. 12 S. Kneipp, Mein Testament…, s. 46. 13 Anonim, „W kwestyi tzw. metody Kneippa”, Kronika Lekarska, 1892, R. 13, z. 2, s. 130.

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that these abilities possessed not only laymen and his parishioners, but also doctors who believe in this „fairy tale”. Dr Jasiński criticizes „Kneipp’s scientiﬁ c lectures on the art of healing” as factually weak, but delivered with conviction of his own competence, accuses him of „lack of medical knowledge and critical reason”. He was equally harsh about the „medical books” written by Kneipp, which he thought were dictated by uncontrollable imagination, which is why he calls them „phantasms”. However, he favorably refers to the personally tried diet used in Wörishofen, he describes it as „no good at all”. He treats Kneipp as an extraordinary person because of the impact he could have on people: „We can see from all this that Kneipp was not an ordinary person. For who knew how to pretend to be a doctor so well that not only profanes but even doctors had him as a real doctor, who once again was able to tune the European population so that they recognized as a new thing such conduct that has been known since Prießnitz’s time (...) who was ﬁ nally able to such a childish idea as guski delight people to such an extent that their admiration was equal to madness, this can be safely said that he was an extraordinary man”. He continues to write: „No wonder Kneipp has achieved such fame as no one can boast. However, during his lifetime Kneipp was surrounded by fame as much as possible, but in addition immortality awaits him. Because when future historians mention the above-mentioned shawl, they will name it Kneippomania”[14].

Kneipp responded briefl y to the accusations of unkind doctors: „Soldiers did not invent gunpowder, but they shoot it with diligence”[15]. However, there were also those who were keenly interested in the Kneipp treatment system. Despite criticism and not always positive relationships with doctors, Fr. Kneipp started working with doctors, took sick people with them and consulted on more diffi cult cases. Professor A. Kierzek in an article on the reception of the Kneipp method writes: „However, it is also amazing how some of the nineteenth-century doctors succumbed to this suggestion. Or just for profi t? Or maybe for lack of criticism? Or perhaps from colossal ignorance?”[16].

However, the fact of such cooperation is undeniable. The ﬁ rst to cooperate with Kneipp was Dr. Bernhuber, who commuted from nearby Türkheim

14 J. Jasiński, „Kneipp jako kapłan – lekarz”, Przegląd Lekarski, 1897, R. 35, s. 456. 15 S. Kneipp, Kodocyl…, s. 50. 16 A. Kierzek, „Recepcja metody hydroterapii księdza Sebastiana Kneippa. Jej znaczenie dla współczesnej medycyny”, Przegląd Lekarski, 2005, R. 65, s. 1587.

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every day, examined the sick and determined the type of disease, and later opened a hydrotherapy facility in Rosenheim. Dr. Kleinschrod joined Kneipp from 1888, who created the fi rst scientifi c foundations of the Kneipp system and, like the previous one, built a hydrotherapy plant near Metz, and in 1890 Dr. Bergmann and Dr. Werminghausen, who left Wörishofen in 1893 because he started working on his own hand in the Kneipp sanatorium in Schandau near Dresden. One of the fi rst propagators and supporters of the Kneipp therapeutic method was also Dr. Baumgarten, who had been working with him since 1892. Dr. Baumgarten explained that the lack of medical education does not prevent Kneipp from using his method, because he applies the treatments according to the state of strength and reactivity of the body. As a result, he developed his own diagnostics of the body’s response to hydrotherapeutic stimuli[17].

Finally, in 1894, the International Kneipp Doctors Association (Kneipp Ärzte Bund) was established, which was joined by 30 doctors from all over Europe. In the same year Kneipp wrote: „In February, doctors - supporters of my method - founded the Association in order to guarantee this healing method and to establish it scientiﬁ cally. And it happened without my encouragement and without my inﬂ uence. These doctors publish the newspaper Kneipp Main News (Centralblatt für das Kneipp’sche Heilverfahren), which is printed by Borchert and Schmidt in Kaufbeuren”[18].

„Kneipp’s association” (Kneipp Bund e.V.) with the headquarters in Bad Wörishofen, formed shortly after his death in August 1897, is currently the largest non-state organization dealing with health issues in Germany. It brings together 660 various Kneippian organizations and about 160,000 individual members around the world, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Israel, the United States, New Zealand and others[19].

Thanks to the work of Kneipp, Wörishofen has become a fashionable health resort, and the ﬁ rst sanatoriums using its treatment system are created in Germany. In 1894, there were about 100 of them, among others in Bad Ziegenhals (now Głuchołazy in Poland), Baden-Baden, Bonn, Coburg, Koblenz, Frankfurt, as well as in other corners: in the then Austrian Silesia and Lower Silesia in Lähnhaus (now Wleń), in France, Switzerland

17 G. Straburzyński, Księga przyrodolecznictwa, Warszawa 1997, s. 19. 18 S. Kneipp, Kodocyl…, s. 50. 19 I. Trzewikowska, op.cit., s. 70.

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und USA also in then Poland in Kosowo and in Warsaw[20]. News about some emerging hydrotherapy plants reaches Kneipp, which is met with his satisfaction and approval: „However, I am particularly pleased that hydrotherapy plants were created and built in diﬀ erent areas, and patients seeking water help do not have to travel long”[21]. In the preface to the twelfth edition of „My water cure” (Meine wasserkur) he describes the treatment facilities he described and developed in Jordansbad, Immerstadt, Ulm, Rosenheim and Traunstein.

In April 1892, Sebastian Kneipp wrote to Prince Regent Lutipold Bavarian asking for hydrotherapy to be included in the university curriculum. Unfortunately, the resistance of scientists to the emerging new method was then huge[22]. Sebastian Kneipp also established cooperation with pharmacists, trying to ensure that by promoting the medicinal properties of herbs contribute to their dissemination. Thanks to the cooperation started in 1890 with the pharmacist Leonard Oberhaeusser - the owner of the pharmacy „Under the Angel” in Würzburg, to whom he transferred the copyright to his recipes, from 1897 the fi rst production of herbs, mixtures and herbal medicines used in the Kneipp method has been launched and are used to this day. The plant is located in Würzburg and currently operates as a modern herbal medicinal product manufacturing plant – Kneipp Werke GmbH. Cooperation with the co-owner of the trading company Kathreiner from Munich - Adolf Brougier, and with his partner - traveler and merchant Herman Auste resulted in the transfer of licenses, commercialization and large-scale production of grain coff ee recommended by Kneipp (Malzkaff ee Kneipp). Ludwig Huber, owner of the printing house Köschelschen Druckerei from Kempten, who was entrusted with publishing issues of his works, also joined the growing group of Kneipp supporters. Kneipp made 32 trips across Europe, spreading his theory of healthy living[23].

At the age of 73, Kneipp visited Rome, where during an audience with Pope Leo XIII he was asked for health advice. After many meetings, the pope decorated him with a commemorative gold medal and gave him the title of Monsigniore. Wörishofen, however, was experiencing a real boom, the healing method of Fr. Kneipp was becoming more and more popular.

20 S. Kneipp, Kodocyl…, s. 35. 21 Ibidem, s. 51. 22 S. Burghardt, op.cit., s. 22 23 I. Trzewikowska, op.cit., s. 67.

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The author himself worked perfectly despite his old age. In May 1897 he attended a clergy conference, giving his last lecture, because he felt bad due to a cold he had acquired during the funeral in Ottobeuren. This was the beginning of a severe ﬂ u, which was probably the real cause of Kneipp’s death. He died on June 17, 1897.

After the death of Sebastian Kneipp, the method he initiated experienced further development. In Wörishofen, numerous sanatoriums, rest houses, hotels, shops and restaurants have been created serving healthy food in accordance with the recommendations of Sebastian Kneipp. Currently, in the Allgäu region in which Wörishofen lies, there are about 370 licensed health resort houses, of which about 200 are located in Worishofen. Among them are clinics, sanatoriums.

The institution that is the ﬁ rst center in Poland to include in its assumptions treatment and prevention by the Sebastian Kneipp method is the Sebastianeum Silesiacum sanatorium in Kamień Śląski (Opolskie Voivodeship), put into use in 2005 together with the adjacent garden of medicinal plants of Sebastian Kneipp.

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