- Vincenz Priessnitz
Vincenz Priessnitz, also written Prießnitz (sometimes in German "Vinzenz", in English "Vincent", in Czech "Vincenc";
October 4 ,1799 -November 28 ,1851 ) was the founder of thealternative medicine practices ofhydrotherapy and promoter of the nature cure, which stressed remedies such as fresh air and mountain water over conventional medicine.Biography
Young age
Vincenz Priessnitz was born into a farmer´s family in the village of
Gräfenberg (now "Lázně Jeseník") nearFreiwaldau (now "Jeseník") and baptized Vincenz Franz. His parents were among the first settlers of the village. When Vincenz was eight his father went blind and he had to help in the farm, especially after his elder brother died four years later. Once Vinzenz watched a roebuck with a wounded limb coming to a pond (or stream) to heal its woundHidden Europe, No.4, September 2005, [http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/article_info.php?articles_id=91] En icon] ). He healed his own finger injured during timber mining with water wraps (1814). In 1816 he was injured more seriously when he broke his ribs in an accident with a cart and the doctor claimed it was fatal or at least crippling. He used his water therapy which took a year but eventually succeeded. He became locally renowned and started healing animals and some neighbours by pouring cold water. Soon queues of people were coming to Gräfenberg, so in 1822 Vincenz decided to rebuild his father´s house, building part of it as a sanatorium for his patients.Petr Slinták: Vincenz Priessnitz a jesenické prameny, Czech Radio Station Leonardo [http://www.rozhlas.cz/leonardo/historie/_zprava/364418] , 20.07.2007 [http://www.rozhlas.cz/leonardo/historie/_zprava/364418] Cs icon]Success
In 1826 he was invited to
Vienna to heal the Emperor´s brother Anton Victor,Grand Master of theTeutonic Knights . It made him a great reputation so a lot of people from all over the country started to stream to Gräfenberg. Among the methods he used in his therapy there was not only cold water but also hard work and barefoot walks on grass. The diet and sleep regime were quite strict. His “sponge washing” was not accepted by local doctors of medicine, and so they complained and called him an impostor with no medical background. The complaints were denied by the imperial committee which accepted hydrotherapy as an alternative medical method and in 1838 granted Priessnitz a permit to establish the spa he started several years earlier. The next year 1500 patients arrived (among them one monarch, a duke and duchess, 22 princes and 149 counts and countesses) and 120 doctors to study the new therapy. The new spa house, built that year with 30 rooms, was called Castle and the next house was called New Spa House.Miloš Kočka: Vincenz Priessnitz, život a význam [http://priessnitz.jeseniky.org/text/historie.htm] Cs icon] In 1846 Priessnitz was awarded a medal by the Emperor. Various aristocratic patients did him reverence by erecting monuments in the spa town. Among the most famous guests wasNikolai Gogol who visited the spa twice (1839 and 1846). Vincenz died in 1851 and his wife Sofie followed him in 1854. They were buried in the family crypt in Gräfenberg. They had eight daughters (the only son died immediately after his birth).Legacy
The Museum of Vincenz Priessnitz is in the house which was the seat of the first hydrotherapy institute in
Lázně Jeseník . There is a statue of Priessnitz inVienna (1911), inKirchheim unter Teck and a Priessnitz fountain byCarl Konrad Albert Wolff inPoznan ,Poland [Art Encyclopedia [http://www.answers.com/topic/albert-wolff-1?cat=entertainment] En icon] .The 200th anniversary of his birth was listed among the
UNESCO anniversaries in 1999. [Topí Pigula: Aqua Vitae Vincenze Priessnitze [http://www.g2.cz/cs/cestovani/koktejl/34.shtml] Cs icon]A band from Jeseník named itself Priessnitz.
A Czech movie based on his life was made in 1999 under the name of "Vincenz Priessnitz". [ [http://www.kinosvetozor.cz/cz/program/filmy/1757/Vincenz-Priessnitz/ Vincenz Priessnitz (Kino Světozor) ] ]
References
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