19th Century approaches to Soul Therapy
Spas and sacred wells had long been part of the standard battery of cures and were prescribed by everyone from the wisest peasant to the most entrepreneurial physician. The spa was a source of water which had chemical properties deemed efficacious in treating specific illnesses. In the Nineteenth Century the use of water as an instrument of cure underwent a series of developments, most notably at Grafenberg where hydropathy was initiated by a farmer’s son, Vincenz Priessnitz (1799-1851). Priessnitz codified a system of wetting and sweating into what came to be regarded as the heroic water cure and which, under the name ‘hydropathy’, swept Europe by storm following a series of social successes in the 1830s and 1840s as the great and the good of Europe subjected themselves to the regimen. One of his most loyal adherents described him as:
A man whose discovery had done more to ameliorate, both physically and morally, the condition of mankind, perhaps more than any other made since the dawn of Christianity.[1]
The prospective patient would be assessed by Priessnitz who generally attended their first bath at Grafenburg to make the observations needed for their diagnosis. Particularly infamous was the wet sheet treatment which involved wrapping the patient in coarse linen that had been soaked. A thick quilt was placed on top of this and a urinal and mouth tube were sometimes incorporated. Apparently the initial discomfort soon gave way to a refreshing coolness followed by a heavy perspiration. The theory was that the blood was suddenly repelled from the surface of the body, driven back to the deeper vessels so that the heart would exert sufficient force to restore the circulation to the skin; thereby establishing the therapeutic cleansing cycle. Alternative treatments included the plunge bath of fresh spring water and regarded as an admirable stimulant, and the sweating blanket which stimulated the ‘vital force’ by creating a temporary fever.
Hydropathy spread throughout Europe and increased in popularity to the extent that Archibald Hunter, a hydropathist claiming thirty years experience who practised at the Bridge of Allan Hydropathic Establishment, wrote a book, Hydropathy: its principles and practice for home use, chiefly intended for mothers and families and published in 1878. Hunter combined instructions for a variety of baths with recommendations for indulging in invigorating physical exercise and fresh air. This book goes through the common ailments with prescriptions for the appropriate treatments and a lengthy list of case histories in which he sets out his many successes. Priessnitz died in 1851 but his treatment methods had been widely replicated by then with more than fifty establishments scattered throughout Germany alone.
Monsignor Kneipp
The most famous of the back-to-nature cults of the mid to late nineteenth century was that of Father Sebastien Kneipp. Sebastien Kneipp was born in Stefansried near Ottobeuren on the 17 May 1821. After a short period working as a weaver he began studies for the Roman Catholic Priesthood. He had been interested in hydropathy at an early age and it was to this he turned when he learned that he and a fellow candidate might be refused ordination because of a lung affliction. They both regained their health, were ordained and sent out to work in parishes. Kneipp continued to practise a refined version of the water cure and had so much success – he apparently saved a village from an epidemic of cholera – that his religious superiors tried to sideline him by moving him to a Bavarian village called Worishofen where he was expected to fade into gentle obscurity. At Worishofen, however, he was soon treating the local peasantry as well as Austrian grand dukes and French nobility. All were ordered to walk barefoot in the morning dew – an edict which they obeyed to the extent that local farmers demanded compensation for trampled crops.
Worishofen flourished and every peasant household in the locality was soon boarding one or two of Kneipp’s many patients. Shops carried a range of souvenirs and therapeutic aids including Kneipp cigars, Kneipp coffee, Kneipp bread, Kneipp honey, and Kneipp swimming trousers as well as brooches featuring miniatures of the watering cans that figured so much in Father Kneipp’s therapy. More specifically Kneipp would prescribe particular exercises or activities for different complaints. Householders were urged to moisten the stone flags of their houses and walk on them for fifteen minutes, especially recommended for cold feet, throat affections, catarrhs, and headaches. A three minute walk in fresh snow was prescribed for chilblains. Four watering cans of chilled water might be poured over a patient at once. To complement this rather austere regimen there were special foot baths with meadow flowers and herbs for wounds and boils; with oatmeal for corns; with malt husk for rheumatism and gout. By the time Kneipp died in 1897 his barefoot cult had spread throughout the world and treaders of the morning dew were to be found, shoes in hand, moving over the grass of Central Park, New York.
Kneipp’s superiors had appointed him as confessor to the Dominican convent at Worishofen in 1855, a job that was probably not as demanding as a parish and might have been considered something of a sinecure. Here he was able to devote time to refining his thoughts on the cure of illness and the maintenance of health. In addition the convent provided an institutional base with accommodation for visiting priests and religious and a kind of support staff to help as the Monsignor’s treatment became more popular. At its peak his wasserkur was comparable in popularity to that of the later psychoanalytic movement. Under its charismatic founder the wasserkur quickly spread in popularity and within thirty years the key texts were being translated and had run to many editions (Kneipp’s book, My Water Cure, was first published in 1886 and had a phenomenal success running to thirty German editions before being translated into English in 1891). Institutes and clinics using the treatment were established throughout Europe. These were especially popular in France but also appeared in Belgium and England. Interested medical doctors and pastors flocked to Worishofen, some to experience the cure for themselves, others to learn the practice, and all in the hope of meeting the Reverend Mgr Kneipp. Kneipp claimed no scientific basis for his discoveries but relied on the evidence of his cases. The translator of the English edition of My Water Cure remarked in his preface that:
‘You cannot help feeling, as you read it, that this man owes nothing to the teachings of science, but everything to an inborn gift, so strongly developed as almost to deserve the name of inspiration’[2]
Those who wrote about their experiences often remarked that what impressed them most of all was the sheer numbers of cures that they had witnessed. My Water Cure is mainly a presentation of case-histories, sorted and listed in alphabetical order according to the illness treated. Kneipp often presented his thoughts in disarmingly clear and striking terms. He believed that the principle cause of illness was the increasing ‘effeminacy’ and weakness of the body. What was needed was a regimen of toughening-up including cold baths and long walks – barefoot of course.
A striking difference between Kneipp and Freud lies in their respective attitudes to fees and payment for therapy. Freud needed to earn his living, to support his family according to the requirements of middle-class Viennese life. Freud’s case-histories are therefore usually accounts of the treatment of well-off people. Kneipp was committed to providing a cure that was accessible for everyone and especially for the poorest in society. Even his wealthier patients were charged very low fees to the extent that his translator remarked that the Monsignor must have been providing treatment at a loss.
Just as members of religious orders today might feel more comfortable with a psychotherapist who is at least not antagonistic towards religious faith, or would make use of a Roman Catholic psychiatric hospital or clinic for the treatment of alcoholism or ‘burn-out’, so clearly the vowed religious of Europe were attracted by the idea of healing and recuperation in Worishofen. The history of Kneipp’s treatment indicates that large numbers of vowed religious were to be seen at Worishofen:
‘Invalid priests and monks make up a large proportion of the guests at Worishofen. Almost every variety of religious attire may be seen here, from the purple robe of the church dignitary to the coarse brown dress of the mendicant friar.’[3]
Monsignor Kneipp was trusted, his cures unlikely to bring the patient into turmoil or the temptations of soft luxury or sexual proximity. Here, freed from their religious duties, they could still have access to the sacraments of the church. Here, among so many enquirers, researchers, chaplains, trainees, and patients, the religious patient would not fear the experience or exposure of being the only one of their kind in need of healing. Later spiritual writers, most notably Henri Nouwen, would consider the spiritual needs and plight of the wounded healer. Here at Worishofen the wounded healers could feel safe and be healed. There could be a large number of priests and religious undertaking the cure at any one time with many of them making use of the hospitality offered by the local convent.
‘Soon after 7a.m. the regular stream of patients arrived, and till 10, as a rule, there was not one moment’s pause in the succession of people whom he saw. At that hour he would leave his house to go over to the neighbouring convent, an old community of Dominican nuns, which is entirely under his direction and care. Numbers of priests congregate in Worishofen. Some of these whose health was very seriously impaired, lodged in this convent, and all of them, monks and others, would assemble there for their meals and social intercourse.’[4]
Writing in the French published Kneipp Almanac of 1896, C Dillman of Worishofen poses the question of whether there could possibly be a religious congregation or order that had not had a member visit Worishofen either for the water-cure itself or to be trained in Kneipp’s methods.
‘Est-il un Ordre religieux, une Congrégation d’hommes ou de femmes, dont quelque membre ne soit venu á Woershoffen, j’en doute! Il en est qui viennent pour cause de santé; mais beaucoup veulent étudier par eux-mêmes les applications de la méthode Kneipp, pour en établier ensuite l’usage dans leurs convents.’[5]
The Kneipp cure was also having an impact on the medical profession. The sheer number of people presenting at Worishofen and returning home with tales of cures was in itself a considerable challenge to more conventional medicine. Kneipp was, however, operating fully within the law and any charges of quackery were refuted by the simple fact that he was so open about his methods. His English translator suggested that the time of criticism from the medical profession was passing and that doctors might do well to research the Kneipp approach for themselves.
‘It is evident that in Germany, at least, Pfarrer Kneipp’s cure is going to influence the present state of medicine to a considerable extent. The cures he has affected are too striking and too numerous to pass unnoticed. According to Bavarian law, nothing can be done to prevent him carrying on his treatment as long as he uses no secret remedies – Gehen-mittel; and this, indeed, he does not, for he is only too anxious that the public in general, and doctors in particular, should make themselves familiar with the whole matter. At first doctors seemed inclined to pooh-pooh the whole thing, and to smile compassionately when his name was mentioned. This era, however, is past, and their curiosity is evidently aroused.’[6]
Further evidence of the popularity of Kneipp’s methods lies in the success of many Kneipp-endorsed foodstuffs and diets. The Dominicans at Worishofen published a book of Kneipp recipes, Manuel de Cuisine Kneipp. This book was in its sixteenth edition in 1896 and had 618 different recipes for general cookery including soups, vegetables, and meat dishes with a number of advertisements for Kneipp related or endorsed products. The book had a preface written by Mgr Kneipp and a two page foreword by Fr. Gruber, le secretaire de Kneipp, outlining how the Monsignor’s ideas had been welcomed in different countries and by all classes of people. One of the advertisements, for J Faurichon – Pharmacien-Chimiste of St-Symphorien-de-Lay (Loire), has a table of products and prices for ‘produits francais de la methode Kneipp’ including essential oils, wines, powders, chicory leaves, tinctures, twenty-two different tissanes, sandals, and cotton clothes. In essence this list is not at all unlike the catalogues produced by retailers at the beginning of the twenty-first century to advertise alternative medicines and ethically-approved, environmentally friendly products. The advertisement goes on to list about 150 suppliers of these products throughout France.[7]
The Kneipp brand continues in use to this day with a range of teas and herbal remedies available in some of the specialist herbal shops in Britain and throughout Europe. The Monsignor’s face can be found smiling on boxes of herbal teas which, if taken on a regular basis, can act as a aids to digestion, weight-loss, or for the relief of rheumatism. A search of the internet will also indicate that Kneipp’s methods are still being practised in a number of clinical establishments around Bad Worishofen and even in South Africa. The Monsignor’s books are still in print and he merits mention in some of the alternative medicine books. The method clearly does not have the same popular appeal as it had a century ago, but the Monsignor’s disciples continue to keep his approach alive.
[1] Turner, pg143
[2] A de F in Kneipp, S., My water-cure as tested through more than thirty years, trans from 30th German edition, Blackwood, London 1891.
[3] ibid, p xi
[4]ibid, pp xvi-xvii
[5]Dillman in Le Thielleux, P., (ed), Almanach Kneipp 1896, Redigé par Mgr Kneipp, Paris 1896 p144.
[6]A de F in Kneipp, S., My water-cure as tested through more than thirty years, trans from 30th German edition, Blackwood, London 1891, pxix.
[7]Manuel de Cuisine Kneipp, 1896
Colin Brady 