August Karl Gustav Bier and Homeopathy
August Bier was unusual for being very open minded in his support of homeopathy, even though he came across the same sort of ‘religious cult‘ in science we encounter today. As late as 1925, Professor August Bier was censured by the Berlin medical profession for attempting to rehabilitate Hahnemann’s reputation.
Truly, there is nothing new under the sun!
Bier was so versatile as a doctor that he did not dwell solely on surgical problems and he became extremely interested in homeopathy and he demanded that regular medicine became more open to it, in which view he was supported by Erwin Liek, Ferdinand Sauerbruch, Kapferer and Mummert and also Edward Hitschmann, whose grandfather was a homeopath and Heinrich Meng who became the Chief Physician of the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, which was itself founded by a homeopath and now houses a Homeopathic Archive. Hugo Schulz and Rudolf Arndt, Carl Ludwig Schleich and Hans Driesch and many others all incorporated homeopathic ideology into their work at this time.
Bier’s researches into homeopathy led him to propose three fundamental points, the single remedy, the similar remedy and the minimum dose. He is quoted as saying that:
“Above all, I am of the opinion that no one should judge homeopathy, who has not tried homeopathic remedies or who has failed by reading to familiarise himself with the theory of homeopathy.”
Bier recommended books by Haehl ‘Samuel Hahnemann: his life and work’, Hugo Schulz’s essays and Stauffer’s ‘Homeopathic Materia Medica’ and ‘Homeotherapy’ and ‘Homeopathy Explained’ by J D Clarke, ‘The Case for Homeopathy’ by C E Wheeler, and ‘Materia Medica’ by Wheatby and Stonham. He praises his publisher Hans Luft, who published Bier’s own books on homeopathy ‘A Physician’s Thoughts on Medicine’ and ‘What Should be our Attitude Towards Homeopathy?’
Bier also said:
“Microbes are of secondary importance in diseases; a healthy individual does not become infected.”
Interestingly, Bier also pioneered sustainable forests and is also known as the forest doctor. His son Heinrich continued his father’s work.
NB: It was obvious after a few Google clicks that most of the stuff on Bier and homeopathy is in German and has not yet been translated into English. Maybe some German homeopath could offer a great deal more information on this fascinating man?
Sue :: Aug.30.2007 :: European History :: 3 Comments »
There is a quote attributed to August Bier on the cover of a book: Organon of Medicine edited by Mahendra Singh & Subhas Singh: “It is possible to find in the Organon the highest wisdom and greatest foolishmess according to the natural tendency of reader”
It is a remarkable statement; I wonder if you have seen it by now
Sincerely, Mike
The quote by August Bier was on the cover of the book, nowhere inside as far as I could determine. The authors of the book might have translated it from German. I would like to quote it in a paper I am writing, but would prefer to quote the original, rather than the book cover! The implied message of the quote, that Hahnemann’s writings are divinely inspired, and hence capable of being understood from whatever level of wisdom that the reader is able to summon, is uniquely stated, and well worth quoting from the source.
Sincerely, Mike
Hi Mike
I cannot find such a quote either (on google) but I know a German lass who might find this in the original German and I will ask her
Sue