A Special Kind of Practice? The Homeopath Friedrich von Böninghausen (1828-1910).

More than 11,500 people consulted the physician Friedrich von Bönninghausen between 1864 and 1889. He noted down details of these consultations in his case journals, devoting a page to each patient. Today, these journals provide documentation of a medical practice in the second half of the nineteenth century in the Westphalian city of Münster.1 On the basis of Bönninghausen’s journals it is possible to reconstruct his activities against the general historical context. Bönninghausen was, in fact, no ‘orthodox’ physician: although he had graduated from medical school and been sworn in by the authorities of the city of Münster as ‘physician, surgeon and obstetrician’ in 1862, he differed in one essential aspect from other physicians offering their services in the city at the time. He was a homeopath and treated his patients according to principles put forward by Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843), who had founded this medical approach in the early nineteenth century. Did this make his practice special and, if so, in what way was it different from that of other physicians? These are the questions that this paper seeks to investigate. We begin by introducing Bönninghausen. His case journals form part of this process because they constitute the source on which this research is based. We will then present one case history to illustrate Bönninghausen’s mode of treatment. Next, Bönninghausen’s homeopathic practice – as established from the journals – will be briefly outlined: its size, its clientele and the range of complaints treated. In conclusion, we will offer an answer to the question as to whether and to what extent Bönninghausen’s practice was ‘special’.2