The Anthroposophic Approach to Medicine

Friedrich Husemann, MD

Dr. Friedrich Husemann (1887–1959) was born in in northeast North Rhine-Westphalia in north Germany, the first son of a Protestant pastor. He originally wanted to study theology (as his brother Gottfried did later on), but eventually decided on medicine. He met Rudolf Steiner while a studying medicine, and finished his training in 1920 with a specialty in psychiatry. Based on the fundamental ideas of Anthroposophy, Dr. Husemann developed a variation of conventional medical-therapeutic practice. He divided this model into three areas: physical therapy through medication and external applications; artistic therapy; and psychotherapy. In 1930, he founded the Wiesneck Sanatorium. It was later named after him as the Friedrich Husemann Clinic in Buchenbach near Freiburg im Breisgau, which specializes in psychiatry and psychotherapy. The clinic continues to be based largely on Husemann's work. During the Nazi period, Friedrich Husemann sought to save the lives of his patients and prevent them falling victim to the Nazi authorities. He died in Buchenbach, a municipality in the southwest Black Forest.