The House of Health in Michelrieth, Germany

Author: Volkmar Schwabe

Health is Harmony: The House of Health, Specialist Clinic for Holistic Medicine

CO'MED visited the House of Health, situated in a wonderful setting and peaceful surroundings, with healthy vegetarian meals, holistic diagnostics and therapy plans - all with the goal of restoring one's mental-physical order by healing via the nervous system. A place where the harmony of soul and body does the healing.

I had been looking forward for a long time to visiting the House of Health. Many people in whom I put a lot of trust - not only in matters of holistic medicine - had again and again suggested my becoming acquainted with this jewel of holistic health treatment. They would say something like: "In the pearl necklace of holistic clinics you've portrayed and recommended up to now one very special jewel is missing." It took a while until I could meet up with the Director, Dr. med. Arno Schneider, and arrange a visit to his institution.

Today I am convinced: My friends were right. I was impressed over and again at how this unusual string of clinics, which proved convincing alone with their extensive display of holistic orientation and care, was still able to produce ever new proofs of their unmistakable ability to provide very specific, original achievements despite being among the many clinics offering a holistic approach.

As the reader will see in this article, my visit to the House of Health in Michelrieth was an experience of a very special kind indeed.

I found

  • the impressive ambience of a 4- or 5-star hotel with healing powers, a strong atmosphere full of quietude and security
  • a complete commitment to a vegan-vegetarian nutrition, which - produced as it was entirely from products from peaceable farming and boasting full taste and visual delight - is able to convince even the most die-hard natural-food hater
  • a well-coordinated, consequent approach to returning body and soul to their intended harmony, according to the conviction that "quietude heals"
  • a well-equipped clinic of natural healing with 8 physicians and a wide range of professional services in most conventional medical disciplines
  • last but not least: the heartfelt, not artificial, attention of the entire staff - from cook to Medical Director - to the needs of each and every guest. Such tender loving care (TLC) soothes the soul and sets the tone for one's stay the whole day long.

All of the above - the loving attention and security offered from early morning till late at night - may be found in many hundreds of examples spread throughout the day's routine. The message is: Everyone is concerned first and foremost with the well-being of the guest (not the "patient"!).

At this juncture, some readers may furrow their brow a bit at the tenor of this report - isn't everything just too great, too perfect to be true? Some may ask whether I've lost my ability to judge critically, or whether I have been blinded by the particularly positive aspects of the clinic.

For just this reason I would like to invite you to come along with me on a journey through this small but amazingly well-rounded world of Michelrieth. I will try very hard to show you the details that lie behind my enthusiastic preface: the concrete realities of this clinic.

But before I invite you along on my one-week trip through the House of Health, please allow me to provide some of the dry but necessary details about this clinic.

Information

Status:

The now world-renowned HG Naturklinik was founded in 1986. It has a total of 40 rooms, 55 beds and some 70 staff members. It is officially a private hospital and can accept patients for both "acute care" and "sanatorium treatment." It has the status of a "mixed hospital," and for patients from the national insurance agency it can also offer "rehabilitation" services.

Medical Staff:

A total of eight medical doctors treat at the clinic in the following disciplines: general medicine, naturopathy, homoeopathy, chirotherapy, internal medicine, cardiology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy.

Medical Indications:

  • allergies, skin and environmental disorders
  • heart, lung and vascular diseases
  • metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus II
  • acute and chronic pain
  • physical and mental states of exhaustion
  • tumors of all kinds

The Concept:

  • relaxation of the nervous system
  • detoxification and purification
  • restitution of function
  • active life shaping
  • vegetarian nutrition

I think these facts suffice for now to begin our journey through the House of Health. The next pieces of information to be introduced, such as holistic diagnostics and therapy, are best shown in the form of lists, which I will present at the proper juncture of our journey. I would also recommend your ordering the House's own very informative and esthetically produced brochure, which describes some aspects in more detail than I can here.

So let us now finally get on with our tour through this oasis of peace and relaxation - of holistic TLC.

Ambience

The trip was a short one for me: To reach Michelrieth I only had to cross the border from Hessen to the Bavarian part of the Spessart forests and hills. But what does "only" mean here? It means crossing through one of the most beautiful forests in Germany, in fact the largest continual piece of forested land in all of Germany. The trip takes me through such idyllic stations as Lohr, the romantic valley of the Hafenlohr river and Markheidenfeld, a city already situated in Bavaria. Most travelers arriving by car will take the exit "Markheidenfeld" off the A3 between Würzburg and Frankfurt. In only a very few minutes' time you arrive, as I did, with a mixture of delight and surprise at a place where one would hardly expect a clinic, even a private clinic.

The beautiful park and impressive winter garden first meet the eye, both of which express the dominant themes of the House of Health: peace and secureness. You can also see the cozy and comfortable rooms, each with their own balcony to the south and with a direct view of the deep-green forest of the Spessart hills. Next comes the hotel-like reception that signals to newcomers what will ensue in the days to come: acceptance and well-being. Nothing reminds us of a clinic, nothing speaks of illness. There are even small signs on the tables in the dining room recommending that guests not speak during the meals continually of their (or others') disorders. "Rejoice at the positive things in life" is the message. For this reason it is recommended that the guests not concern themselves all day long with their medical condition. The House thus puts great emphasis on proper grooming and attire.

"Holistic" is the keyword In Michelrieth - and that includes the style and feeling of the interieur. Much of the furniture, fabrics and decorations were produced by the Phoenix Furniture Company and were bought at a local shopping mall "Alles für alle" (Everything for Everyone); but that's another story in itself. Ecology plays a major role in their production, and the general style reminds one of Laura Ashley. There are three types of rooms to pick from: the well-furnished single and double rooms, and the more exclusive suites. The choice is more one of personal style; one feels at home in all of them.

The Phoenix people, however, have outdone themselves in decorating the loft. It would seem they invested their entire know-how and quality standards into demonstrating how normal, functional areas can be turned into rooms to dream in, to enjoy life, to immerse yourself in a fairy-tale world. Whether in the small apartment "La vie en rose" for one person or in the large apartment with terrace, fireplace, lavender bedroom and a wonderful bath, both guests and their visitors can occupy delightful surroundings. Today, the clinic enjoys guests from all over the world, even some from foreign continents of North America, Arabic Lands and Asia who have made the doctor team in Michelrieth their family physicians, so that these mini-paradises will surely rarely be empty.

This first overwhelming impression makes it difficult to take in all the various offers made by the House of Health.

For example, one can choose from a wide assortment of room fragrances to fit one's own mood; every day there's a different potent made available to improve overall circulation; a morning drink full of minerals and trace elements to jump start the bodily functions; from morning to evening you'll find pure natural mineral water from the springs of the Spessart hills, enriched with oxygen; an ever-flowing pot of herbal tea; the midday liver wrap to induce a pleasant nap and purify the body; ever-available thermo-pillows to ward off cold feet, to pamper the liver, the stomach or kidneys; daily walks through the Spessart forest are offered; bicycles stand continually ready for use. Not to forget Annamarie Trottmann, the good soul of the house, who attends every breakfast and stands ready day and night (!) to solve problems and troubles of all kinds.

The above is only a very incomplete description of this fantastic island of health simply called "HG Naturklinik Michelrieth." Even after one's stay it continues to spread its healing and protective cloak over its guests. Dr. Schneider and his entire team have made it their goal that each and every guest has a place to turn to if need be. Many guests have reported that taking this feeling home with them continued to provide them with a feeling of security.

Vegan-Vegetarian Diet and Fasting Cures

The first impressions are usually gathered in the "dining room" - a pleasant cafeteria where the candles never go out and where many a protein-devouring gourmand has become a vegetarian gourmet. The total meal plan mediates the knowledge that not only is a vegetarian diet healthier, e.g., for preventing type II diabetes and reducing chronic pain, it is also more tasty, wholesome and varied than normal diets. And as a side effect it supports weight-loss plans. What the cooks here prepare stems from controlled organic and peaceable farming. It pampers the taste buds and delights the eye. Here's a few examples:

Lunch:

There's always a hearty salad bar, plenty of health drinks and herbal tees, carrot juice, vegetable soup, veggie patties, potato salad, horseradish dip, cranberries, raisin-cinnamon-apple dessert, apple-sauerkraut juice, mushroom-rice and zucchini-paprika dishes, white-wine sauce, raspberry dessert.

Dinner:

Daily soup from fresh vegetables and herbs, vegetarian spreads, various choices of breads (often from spelt), filled flaky-pastries with avocado dip, rigatoni with sage sauce, antipasto with pita bread. Is your mouth watering yet?

The House of Health sticks strictly to Hippocrates' words:

"Let your food become your remedy"

and has introduced nutrition and the lessons thereof into its holistic concept. Naturally, the clinic offers courses on healthy living and healthy diets, but it has gone one step further: In what may be a unique approach, Michelrieth has set up a specially equipped house dedicated to fasting cures according to natural laws. Contrary to common notions, the guest does not do completely without food - one does not go hungry - but rather by eating from a special fasting buffet one learns to train one's senses and to listen to the body's signals.

This "learning process" has the long-term effect of supporting weight loss and changing one's overall metabolism, making it easier to continue the course of treatment at home and to avoid the well-known "yoyo effect" that occurs after most zero-calorie diets. The body effectively learns to restrict its metabolism to the minimum necessary.

Diana Cipriandi, the lively Italian dietitian responsible for the fasting cures, told me that the most important goal of this system is the "retraining" of the senses according to the method taught at the House of Health. The goal is not to obtain a perfect figure, but to feel comfortable in one's body. That has nothing to do with attaining a model's shapely contours, but rather with recovering an individual's natural bodily order, reducing metabolic illnesses such as rheumatism, arthrosis and diabetes by purifying and detoxifying the body and by dismantling fat depots. And as a side-effect of the Michelrieth method, the fasting guest learns that there can be no purification, no detoxification, without relaxation. Thus, the act of transforming one's diet (whereby the apple plays a major role in helping to purify and detoxify the body, to build up blood cells and provide roughage) also includes learning (in the sense of F.X. Mayr) to slow down and relax eating rituals. This program is, by the way, also offered in the evening for outpatients.

Diana Cipriandi well knows that any pounds shed are fraught with personal problems and stress. For this reason, fasting cures are a holistic process best carried out in conjunction with experienced physicians and therapists. This accompaniment can, if desired, be continued after the cure itself is over.

Dr. Kugler, one of the physicians at the clinic and a proponent of the new innovative nutritional plan, has often appeared in the pages of CO'MED to answer questions concerning vegan nutrition.

The reader will have noticed that, upon arrival, the new guest is exposed to many new and impressive, even surprising, experiences. I myself was particularly taken by the general atmosphere at the clinic, the tangible quietude together with the therapeutic charm diffused by the Spessart forest. I spent my very first evening on my balcony observing the wonderful sunset, sorting out the impressions of the day, overwhelmed by a deep contemplative mood.

House of Health – Nomen est Omen!

The late-evening compress of St. John's wort oil, one of the many specialties of the house, did its job and helped me enjoy a good night's sleep.

That was a good thing, too. For people like me, who are used to spending many late hours sitting working at my desk and rarely get to enjoy the morning dew, it was an early rise at Michelrieth - first the bodily functions were activated through physical exercises, then there's a contemplation of medical plants (those used in the daily herbal tea), and finally, after breakfast, comes the

Organ address

Part of a larger group of guests, I lie on a comfortable mattress and experience a guided and active meditation, which simultaneously allows my body to reach a state of deep relaxation. Every morning a different chakra is addressed through a meditation that is accompanied by special morning exercises which include self-massages. The goal is to establish harmony within oneself, more energy and vitality in the whole organism.

The organ address and the accompanying physical exercises are all part of the overall concept of the clinic of healing via the nervous system, which also explains the morning contemplation of medical plants and the entire ambience at the clinic. The resulting relaxation of the entire nervous system is the prerequisite and basis of a well-functioning organism.

Healing via the nervous system builds the foundation of a true holistic therapy for body and soul and is therefore the base program of the House of Health.

Healing via the nervous system includes, of course, a healthy relationship to one's surroundings. The guest is slowly but surely moved from the widespread and rather convenient "program" responsible for many disorders, namely, that "it's someone else's fault" to the alternative, healthier program: "I will do something."

Healing via the nervous system is a true way to helping oneself, since everything learned at Michelrieth can be employed at home. This helps to retain both mental and physical health beyond the doors of the clinic.

Principle of Order

Above I have attempted to describe my first experiences more or less chronologically and not just to start off with the many whole-body diagnostic and therapeutic methods employed at Michelrieth. Yet that effort wasn't really necessary, since the methods employed are indicative of the entire experience, in which there is a place for everything within its ordering principle. No one thing is more or less important than the other; rather, everything is a complement of everything else, and all together these elements make up what is so unique about Michelrieth: the home of holistic and comprehensive caring on the basis of high-quality (natural) medical care.

Below I thus describe a few selected areas of this grand plan. For the reader this has the advantage of not being overwhelmed by a mass of impressions; also, the article does not reach the length of a paperback book. The series of articles entitled "Clinical Concepts" is meant to provide readers with an overview and to enable them to decide whether a particular clinic meets their needs and interests (be it for oneself or for one's patients). I would hope to enable the reader to feel what it is like to enter into this small holistic universe. Thus, attempting to present an exhaustive report would actually hinder more than help this intention.

However succinct the report may be, I can't go without mentioning in greater detail the motor behind the clinic, the Chief Physician and Director of Michelrieth, Dr. med. Arno Schneider, Specialist for General Medicine, Natural Healing Methods and Homoeopathy. He is also an authorized teacher for continuation courses in natural medicine, chirotherapy and manual therapy. I will describe him and his work more extensively in part because he exemplifies the pleasant modesty of the entire team at Michelrieth.

In order to grasp how such a holistic clinic actually works, one needs to know something about the person who sets up the guidelines for the team and thus represents its most pronounced characteristics.

Very early on Schneider, son of an architect and a school teacher, wanted to become a doctor. At the age of 10 he discovered an old book on herbs, which fascinated him. The world of plants - indeed of all nature - of which plants are only a part, the link of human existence to nature - all these experiences were defining ones for him. At 13 he began collecting herbs and making herbal teas, which came in handy during a wave of sickness, giving him his first experiences in natural healing and awakening in him the urge to study medicine in order to practice healing with these very natural cures. Following a doctoral dissertation of some renown, he received offers from companies desiring his services as a laboratory scientist, but after a short glimpse at the world of functional medicine, he returned to his roots. For a while he worked as an assistant to a country doctor in Saarland and later assisted a general practitioner in Würzburg, before working in his own prosperous practice in Würzburg for a total of nine years. But the price he payed for such success, was having less and less time to spend with his patients.

In 1995 he was offered the chance to head the House of Health, where he had been a visiting physician for some time because of its holistic approach. Especially the unique concept of the clinic - both in a medical and an ethical sense - as well as the highly motivated and committed staff fascinated him. Now the circle had closed for the 10-year-old boy with his first herbal book. Today, after more than 10 years at Michelrieth, he has remained true to his motto: "Practice holistic medicine, take the time and provide the care for patients." Anyone acquainted with the Dr. Schneider's personal path can immediately understand how the concept and especially the high standards of the clinic came to be. This is the only thing too that causes him to drop his usual reserved and modest countenance: When asked what the reason is for the worldwide renown and the international makeup of his patients, he answers by quoting a patient with a broad experience in this area: "There is no other place on earth that combines so much medical competence (without all the high-tech) with so much human attention."

That is not a modest statement, to be sure. But where has modesty ever opened the door to excellence and outstanding achievement? The enthusiastic feedback entered in the guestbook, in many different languages, is testimony to this endeavor.

But Dr. Schneider quickly goes back to his modest and likeable self and sets up my first examination with one of his assistants, Dr. Wirr.

Diagnostics

It is easy to understand that thorough diagnostics and a complete case history are paramount to a successful therapy. In the House of Health this principle, elsewhere often more theory than practice, is implemented as intended: The time for such extensive preparatory work is available and is taken. Past findings are initially put aside since, as Dr. Schneider puts it, the patient is the only person who truly knows what is going on. Here, no one is sacrificed on the altar of conventional medicine - the role of the physician is to assist patients in waking their very own powers of self-healing. Dr. Schneider:

"Do not give up the most precious thing you have - your health - to someone else. Only the powers of self-healing, the inner doctor, can make you healthy. We can only support that process."

Dr. Wirr breathes life into such theory. First, there is the complete physical exam from head to foot, without the use of machines, but with the intensive use of the physician's five senses. For me it was fascinating to see what this method of examination, based primarily in experience, sensibility and empathy, brought to the forefront. It reminded me of the very informative physical exam I had the privilege to experience with a well-known doctor I wrote about in another part in the beginning of my series on “clinic-concepts”.

As part of the well-rounded traditional medical diagnostic regimen there followed examinations with ultrasound , echo cardiography, ECG, stress ECG and lab tests.

If need be, further diagnostic steps, among others, EDS measurement via the B.E.S.T. system (Bioenergetic Stress Test System as well as contributions from orthomolecular medicine, can be added. In the analysis of micronutrients the House of Health belongs, according to Dr. Schneider, "among the best in Germany." I cannot refute this statement.

To this end, Michelrieth works closely with the nearby Diagnostic Center for Mineralitics and Spectroscopy (DCMS), which has at its disposal the most modern methods of analysis. Micronutrients play a major role in human metabolism, since an unbalanced micronutrient environment can lead to any number of functional problems. In order to provide clear suggestions for dietary supplements, the DCMS has prepared a number of micronutrient profiles to address nerve problems, adipositas, antiaging, the immune system, allergies, the musculoskeletal system, rheumatism, osteoporosis, metabolic problems, cardiovascular syndromes, ADHD, cancer and many other deficit syndromes that can and should be treated.

My micronutrient situation, by the way, and I'm happy about this, was in pretty good shape, most likely the result of my very consistent use of mineral supplements. (My readers will recall my preferences in this matter from past articles on acid-base balance.) Much more alarming, however, were the results from the examination of the heavy metals in my body. Something I had already learned from biofeedback exams was now underpinned with concrete numbers. This result is no doubt one of the consequences of my earlier activity for a telecommunications company as an electronics expert. Particularly my values for tin are extremely high - tin-solder just doesn't disappear into thin air!

Now I have, with the help of the clinic, commenced on a course of treatment to clear my body of heavy metals. Perhaps I will also take part in a chelation program; I will in any case participate in a special detoxification program for liver and gall bladder. So there is still a lot to report on from Michelrieth.

But first I would like to inform you about a further diagnostic specialty of the house. Before meeting with Dr. Wirr and taking the physical exam, I had had blood taken for the so-called darkfield microscopy and blood-smear tests. Whereas I was already acquainted with the darkfield exam according to Prof. Enderlein, the blood-smear test was new to me. Both of these tests are early-diagnosis tests from empirical medicine.

Here, the House of Health works closely with the International Institute for Empirical Medicine (IIFE), also based in Michelrieth. Together they developed the organ-sound (or –sonance?) therapy in which the resonance of short melodies is used to activate and support the body's self-healing powers. The accompanying relaxation of the nervous system leads to the elimination of waste products in the blood, which in turn can be clearly documented on the blood-smear test.

The Blood-Smear Test

was adopted at Michelrieth by its developer, Mrs. Auras-Blank, and completely reworked in cooperation with the IIFE. This test allows the whole-body detection of physical disorders and the interconnections of various disorders such as excess amounts of harmful substances and toxins in the blood, organ stress, assessment of overall physical environment, disorders of acid-base balance, disorders of the oxygen supply, inflammation, circulatory disturbances, autoaggressive reactions, etc.

These environmental tests from empirical medicine such as darkfield microscopy and blood-smear can complement diagnostic methods from conventional medicine and thus contribute to an early diagnosis of diseases.

Therapies

Dear reader, alone the overview of the various therapies presently offered at the House of Health, divided into the categories medical procedures, physical therapies (including balneo therapy and hydrotherapy), movement and dietary therapies as well as healing by fasting, take up two whole pages of the prospectus of Michelrieth! Should I, as part of my journalistic duties, list them all? I think not. That would not really help anyone, and it would in the end degrade the holistic and individual therapeutic care that lies at the center of the therapy concept in Michelrieth.

Rather, and I can only hope you are agreed to this, I would like to point out a few exemplary therapies that say more about the House of Health than a complete list of all possible ones.

So first we would be remiss if we did not pay a visit together to a remarkable building at the Michelrieth clinic: the so-called

The Oilcan

Here we find Ayurveda oil therapies, herbal stamp massage, light-sound therapeutic baths and tuina healing massage - all part of the many offers made by the House of Health.

In the last year the new concept of "successful weight reduction" was added. Adipositas occurs quite frequently today and can be very resistant to therapy, while being one of the major overall risk factors in the general population. Together with fasting cures Michelrieth offers specialized therapies based on the individual constitution and micronutrient situation. The concept of "successful weight reduction" has lived up to its name. Although many different methods had previously failed, a long-term success with this method is possible.

During the discussion of my own test results Dr. Schneider points out one of the main experiences gathered at the clinic, one that cannot be emphasized enough: the efficient treatment of the widespread disease of diabetes.

He tells the story of an insulin-dependent diabetic patient whose daily intake had continually risen to 120 units. After 6 weeks of fasting combined with other natural-medical procedures in the Michelrieth clinic, and following subsequent changes to the patient's behavioral patterns, the patient had shed a total of 20 kg and was no longer in need of insulin at all! Even younger patients, aged 40 to 45, who are discovered to have a latent diabetes, were almost always able to ward off the danger. Inasmuch as they actively strived to do so, of course.

Egyptian Wraps

My wife was lucky enough to experience a new offer made by the Oilcan. In a clinic specializing in detoxification and cleansing, this method of treatment is almost an obligatory one. It is rather involved: Many different bandages, 25 in total, are dipped in a warm bath of healing earth, salt from the Dead Sea and natural minerals. This is the modern application of the old Egyptians' knowledge of the "fountain of youth." Eventually the entire body is wrapped, resembling in the end indeed an Egyptian mummy. Quite the opposite of a mummy, however, is the result - a nearly wrinkle-free, youthful-looking body. The skin is intensely cleaned, tightened, the tissue detoxified. Different from other wrapping methods, which in the short term lead to fluid loss through perspiration, the Egyptian method actually removes toxins through ion exchange. I was told in fact that the wraps, once removed, can often smell of coffee, nicotine or other toxins. The patient does not shower or bathe after this treatment, but rather allows the wrap have its full impact on the skin. My wife at least enjoyed both the intensive form of attention she received and the palpable care her skin experienced. But then I was glad to get her back from the realm of the pharaohs.

Although certainly not exhaustive, I shall close for now my description of the tour through the House of Health, which in my opinion should more appropriately be called the "World of Health."

Physical Therapy

Now I have to run a few lists by you, since the great variety of the therapies practiced at Michelrieth should be included in this portrait.

Some of my "favorites" are the therapies according to Dorn and Breuss, colon cleansing, holistic pain therapy, integration of connective tissues, foot massages (reflex zone), biomechanical muscle stimulation according to Nazarow, cranio-sacral therapy, acidosis massages, interference electrical regulation therapy, diverse cleansing therapies such as long-term showering, clay wraps, crystal salt peelings, whirlpool baths, various types of softpack applications in a water bed, the unusual matrix therapy to return bodily tissues to their proper rhythm, and of course magnetic field therapy.

During my own stay at Michelrieth I was able to confirm that all of the above are carried out at a very high level of professionalism.

This ends my short tour through the House of Health, the Naturklinik Michelrieth. I would hope that, despite its necessarily incomplete nature, my report enables you to draw your own opinion of this jewel in the Spessart forest of Bavaria. I for one can only agree with the recommendations I mentioned at the beginning of this portrait. The journey was a complete success for me, getting to know Dr. Schneider and his holistic refuge of natural-healing-oriented care. And this in the light of all my previous portraits of other clinics, all of which have their very own strengths and specialties. The House of Health - this you can see alone from how extensively I've reported on it - offers a wide selection of professional services coupled with highly personal TLC, according to the convictions of their Christian devotions. "They" at Michelrieth call that "help provided through the practical life rules of the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus of Nazareth, the original Christian rules for achieving happiness, contentment, freedom and health.

Dr. Schneider believes that, without the help of original Christian principles he and his staff would not be able to do the work they do, do it in the way they do it; that is their "tools" are not some abstract teachings, but solid applied rules such as love and respect for humans, animals and nature, tolerance and trust, succinctly distilled in the above-mentioned truth: "Do not unto others what you would not have them to do to unto you." This piece of wisdom has been transformed in Michelrieth from a passive to an active statement:

"Do unto others first what you would have them to do unto you."

The guests of the House of Health, stemming from over 50 countries, whether Muslims, (Zen-)Buddhists, Christians of all kinds or Jews, are treated with the same respect; they experience, some for the first time, the particular type of applied Christianity practiced there. Dr. Schneider tells the story of a Jew who had been in the German concentration camps, who came to be reconciled with Germany by experiencing this original Christian philosophy; he tells of Jews and Muslims who became friends in the peaceful atmosphere of the clinic; and he tells of guests from Arab countries who have come to learn what it really means to live according to Christian principles, which helped mitigate at least in part the blind, sometime helpless hate that has developed in todays world.

 

Volkmar Schwabe:

Volkmar Schwabe is a medical journalist with a degree in teaching and health pedagogics. He is responsible at CO'MED for the series entitled "Clinic Portraits," in which he describes only institutions he has visited himself and whose competence has convinced him.

Contact:

Spessartstr. 71, D-36371 Sinntal, Germany, Tel. +49 6665 13025, Fax +49 6665 919679, E-mail volkmar.schwabe@t-online.de