Theodor Hahn

Theodor Hahn (19 May 1824 to 3 March 1883) was a German hydrotherapist, naturopath, writer and vegetarianism activist, born at Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Influenced by the hydrotherapy of his cousin J. H. Rausse, he began his own water cure in 1847 and was one of the first to use the term Naturheilkunde, nature cure. He managed water cure establishments in Switzerland from 1850, including Tiefenau from 1852, and from 1862 ran a naturopathic sanatorium, Auf der Waid, near St. Gallen. From 1852 he prescribed a lacto-vegetarian diet to his patients, and his books include Die naturgemässe Diät (1859) and Das Paradies der Gesundheit (1865). A medical historian credited him with adding dietetics and vegetarianism to the water cure, and he also opposed animal vivisection. He died of colon cancer. Nothing here is medical advice.