Nature Cure, Kneipp and the European Roots of Naturopathy

Where this story starts

Naturopathy did not begin as a single tradition. It grew from a 19th-century European nature cure movement and was brought to the United States and reshaped there. A historian of the German movement writes that the Natural Cure Movement of Germany began in the early 19th century and later merged into the Lebensreformbewegung, the "life reform movement," which campaigned for temperance, anti-tobacco and anti-vaccination causes. [1] This page tells that history and reports what research has measured. Modern naturopathy is covered on what is naturopathy, and water treatments in general on what is hydrotherapy.

Priessnitz and the water cure

Vincenz Priessnitz (1799-1851) used water-based cure treatments at Gräfenberg. A German medical article describing his family water book says his treatments included more than 50 applications of water, dietary therapy for every patient, plenty of physical exercise and a regular life style. [2] A naturopathic doctor and historian writes that the water applications later popularized by Kneipp and others can be traced back to Priessnitz. [3] Note that this second source comes from within the naturopathic profession, which celebrates this lineage.

Sebastian Kneipp

Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897) served as a Catholic priest and hydrotherapist in Wörishofen for 42 years from 1855. The town later became Bad Wörishofen. [1] Historians describe his approach as resting on five tenets: hydrotherapy, exercise, nutrition, herbalism and balance of mind and body. [1]

Two features set him apart from other natural-cure advocates, according to one historian. He did not refuse vaccination and medication, and he sought recognition from the medical world by cooperating with physicians who supported his treatment. [1] His book My Water Cure describes 51 herbs from his apothecary. [4]

What Kneipp therapy includes

The Austrian UNESCO Commission describes Kneipp therapy as a holistic method with five pillars: exercise, nutrition, water, plants and balance. Classic "Kneipping" consists of multiple affusions of water plus barefoot walking, walking on pebbles, baths, rinses and wraps. [5] Kneipp-related practice is passed on through clubs and associations. In Austria some 200 "Kneipp Aktiv Clubs" are involved. [5] This is community and cultural knowledge, listed in Austria's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage, inscribed in 2020. [5] We do not give technique instructions here. Cold-water and contrast practices carry real risks, covered on hydrotherapy safety and cold-water immersion and contrast water practices.

From nature cure to naturopathy

The profession's own history article states that naturopathy was founded in the United States in 1901 by Benedict Lust, MD. [6] Kneipp's love of herbs found its way into naturopathy, and a column on Kneipp herbs ran in Lust's publication. [4] The same article describes naturopathy as having emerged, grown, fragmented and declined under internal debate and external political pressure before rising again in the 1970s. [6] Today in the US only 17 states and the District of Columbia license naturopathic physicians, according to NCCIH. [7] See naturopathy vs integrative medicine and the naturopathy hub.

What research shows on Kneipp hydrotherapy

A 2023 systematic review in BMJ Open looked at randomised trials of Kneipp hydrotherapy, which it describes as cold water applications. It included 20 trials with 4,247 participants. [8]

One author was supported by the Kneipp Association in his professorship, which the paper discloses. [8] Most trials of water treatments cannot hide the treatment from participants, so expectation can affect results. For wider comparisons, see hydrotherapy evidence by goal.