The Nordrach Clinic, or Nordrach Sanatorium, was a clinic for the treatment of advanced
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It was established in the late 19th century by Dr.
Otto Walther in
Nordrach in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...
region of southwestern Germany. Some of Dr. Walther's uncustomary treatments included "overfeeding" (patients were given three daily plentiful feedings of milk, cheese, meat, sweets, starches, and fruits), the complete abstinence from any drugs (save
morphine
Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...
for the critically ill), and plentiful rest. The rooms of the clinic, located at {{convert, 1500, ft, m above sea level, had an abundance of open windows to expose patients to the putative positive effects of winds.
The Nordrach Clinic was small, housing a maximum of fifty patients, and very expensive. News of the successes of Nordrach soon spread and helped give rise to the sanatorium business in nearby Switzerland, a country whose landscape was much more suited to the high altitude and fresh wind regimen stressed by Nordrach. The Nordrach experiment also gave rise to several "mini Nordrachs", most notably
Nordrach-in-Mendip,
Nordach-on-Dee and
Nordrach-in-Wales.
Nordrach thrived as a sanatorium for people with tuberculosis through the early 1930s. However, as a Jew, Otto Walther came under increased scrutiny by the
National Socialist
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...
(
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
) Party after it came to power in Germany in 1933 and the clinic was eventually forced to close.
References
* Dormandy, Thomas. ''The White Death: A History of Tuberculosis''. New York: New York University Press, 1999.
* Gibson, J.A. ''The Nordrach Treatment''. London: 1901.
*
De Guerville, A.B. ''La lutte contre le tuberculose''. Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1904 (translated as ''The Crusade against Phthisis''. London: Hugh Rees, 1904; de Guerville recounts the experiences of his own successful treatment at Nordach in 1900).
20th century in Baden-Württemberg
Tuberculosis sanatoria in Germany
Defunct organisations based in Germany