Hermann Brehmer

Dr. Hermann Brehmer (1826-1889) established the first German sanatorium for the systematic open-air treatment of tuberculosis.

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As a botany student in Silesia, Brehmer was diagnosed with tuberculosis and told to find a healthier climate. He went to the Himalayas, continued his studies, and found himself cured. In 1854 he returned to Germany to study medicine, ultimately writing a dissertation titled "Tuberculosis is a Curable Disease". He opened a hospital in Gorbersdorf where patients were exposed to plentiful amounts of high altitude fresh air, and good nutrition. Initially, his sanatorium was based in a small group of cottages, though it would grow to have 300 beds. The results surpassed all previous treatments.

Brehmer's work was continued by one of his patients, Peter Dettweiler (1837-1904), who opened his own sanatorium in 1876; however, Dettweiler emphasized rest rather than exercise.

Brehmer and Dettweiler's work was the primary influence on American Dr. Edward Trudeau in establishing the successful Adirondack Cottage Sanitorium at Saranac Lake, New York in the 1880s.

Sources

• Modern Drug Discovery - "Consumption, the great killer"
• Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine - "The key to the sanatoria"