Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung des Kurpfuschertums

Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung des Kurpfuschertums
Abbreviation DGBK
Formation 1903 (1903)
Dissolved 1934 (1934)
Type Nonprofit organisation
Purpose Consumer protection against quackery
Region served
Germany
Membership
30,000 (1928)[1]
Founder
 Carl Alexander
Affiliations Ärztlicher Vereinsbund, Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten

The Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung des Kurpfuschertums (DGBK; English: German Society for Fighting Quackery) was a skeptical association founded in 1903 for consumer protection against quackery. It opposed the Kurierfreiheit ("Curing freedom", the right to treat illnesses without being medically educated), that existed in Germany from 1869/1872 until the adoption of the Heilpraktikergesetz ("Healers' Law") in 1939. The association originated after the example of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten (DGBG; "German Society for Fighting Venereal Diseases"), and is counted as one of the predecessors of the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP).[2]

History

On Quackery and How To Fight It (1929), a book published by the DGBK.

Since 1899, there was a Quackery Commission in the umbrella organisation of physicians' associations, the Ärztlicher Vereinsbund.[3] This led Carl Alexander to found the DGBK in 1903.[4] After the first annual general assembly of 14 January 1904, the DGBK started providing information and cooperated on legislative measures, to which end several commissions were formed.[3] With pamphlets and lectures, lay people as well as professionals were educated.[3] There was lobbying against naturopathy, antivaxxers and also doctors who practised homeopathy. The association primarily sought to warn the public against unskilled lay healers. In 1911, the DGBK participated with the DGBG in the International Hygiene Exhibition of Karl August Lingner, the founder of Odol (a mouthwash brand), in Dresden, to which other organisations were demonstratively not invited.[5] In response, in the summer of 1911 a counter-event was held entitled "Congress of Naturopathy and People's Welfare".[6] The association managed to combine left and conservative forces alike[4] and organise travelling exhibitions.[7] In 1927, 53,000 paying visitors came to an exhibition in Ludwigshafen.[8]

In 1929, the DGBK suggested creating a law against quackery of all kinds, to provide legal prerequisites against people who offer medical treatment or obstetrics without appropriate education.[9]

After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, the magazine Gesundheitslehrer ceased publication in 1934 and the DGBK was dissolved.

Publications

Literature

External links

References

  1. ↑ Inge Hüsgen, Amardeo Sarma (13 December 2010). "Skeptiker-Organisationen" (in German). GWUP website. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "War die GWUP die erste deutsche Skeptiker-Organisation" (in German). GWUP website. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Jens-Uwe Teichler: "Der Charlatan strebt nicht nach Wahrheit, er verlangt nur nach Geld": Zur Auseinandersetzung zwischen naturwissenschaftlicher Medizin und Laienmedizin im deutschen Kaiserreich am Beispiel von Hypnotismus und Heilmagnetismus. Franz Steiner Verlag, 2002. ISBN 9783515079761. p.171f.
  4. 1 2 Lutz Sauerteig: Krankheit, Sexualität, Gesellschaft: Geschlechtskrankheiten und Gesundheitspolitik in Deutschland im 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert. Franz Steiner Verlag, 1999. ISBN 9783515073936. p. 427
  5. ↑ Sybilla Nikolow: Der statistische Blick auf Krankheit und Gesundheit. ›Kurvenlandschaften‹ in Gesundheitsausstellungen am Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland. In: Ute Gerhard, Jürgen Link und Ernst Schulte-Holtey (publisher): Infografiken, Medien, Normalisierung: Zur Kartografie politisch-sozialer Landschaften. Synchron, Wiss.-Verl. der Autoren, Heidelberg 2001 (Diskursivitäten ; Bd. 1), pages 223–241.
  6. ↑ Cornelia Regin: Naturheilbewegung. In: Martin Dinges (publisher): Medizinkritische Bewegungen im Deutschen Reich (ca. 1870-ca. 1933). Franz Steiner Verlag, 1996. ISBN 9783515068352. p. 57
  7. ↑ Franz Schäfer: Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten vom 18. Februar 1927: Ausführlicher Kommentar. Springer-Verlag, 2013. ISBN 9783642944956. p. 107
  8. ↑ Werner Appel: 100 Jahre Städtestatistik in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. In: Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein (publisher): Stadtentwicklung 2014. Heft 3/2014. p. 27
  9. ↑ Werner Schubert: Quellen zur Reform des Straf- und Strafprozeßrechts: Weimarer Republik (1918 - 1932). Protokolle der Strafrechtsausschüsse des Reichstags. Sitzungen vom Oktober 1929 - Juni 1930 (Abschluss der Beratungen in erster Lesung und der §§ 86ff. in zweiter Lesung, Gesetzentwurf zum Schutze der Republik und zur Befriedigung des politischen Lebens). Walter de Gruyter, 1997. ISBN 9783110155006. p. 267
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.