Rezeptionsgeschichte James Tyler Kents (1849-1916) in Deutschland von 1886 bis 1986

"Introduction - Research question and objectives of the present work

Homeopathy has undergone major changes since its development by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). It spread from Germany all over the world. It flourished in the USA in the 19th century. Homeopaths looked with admiration from Germany to America, where homeopathic colleges and hospitals abounded. Various American homeopaths brought new impulses back across the Atlantic to Germany.

James Tyler Kent (1849-1916), an American physician, was a famous teacher and author in the homeopathic world during his lifetime and remains so to this day. This study aims to investigate the reception of his person, his works and his teachings in Germany. The research situation on this subject has been poor to date. In particular, Kent's reception before the Second World War is largely unknown. This work therefore aims to remedy an important research deficit.

The reception process is to be analysed on the basis of the publication of Kent's works in Germany and, above all, the discussion of Kent's works and teachings in German homeopathic journals from 1886 to 1986. The period of one hundred years was chosen was chosen in order to narrow down the sources, which increased significantly from the 90s of the 20th century onwards. Research into the subsequent years up to the present day could be dealt with in another work.

Firstly, there is a brief outline of homeopathy in the USA, supplemented by a short biography of James Tyler Kent (Chapter 2). The following work is presented in chronological order. The world wars, during which the homeopathic journal culture came to a temporary standstill, form clear caesuras. homeopathic journal culture came to a temporary standstill.

A brief introduction to homeopathy in Germany will be followed by a discussion of the first period before the First World War (Chapter 3). It will be shown that Kent's remedy pictures were already being discussed in Germany around 1886 and that Kent was recognised as an important homeopathic greatness even before the First World War. It will be shown that Kent already influenced important homeopaths in this early phase through his works and in some cases as a personal teacher.

Subsequently, the development of homeopathy under Kent's influence between the two world wars is described (Chapter 4). It is interesting to note that Kent was very controversial during this period and was cited by the "camp" of scientifically critical homeopaths as a deterrent example of bad homeopathy and a negative influence on the development of homeopathy.

The third period under investigation will be the time after the Second World War (Chapter 5). Particular attention will be paid to the dissemination of Kent's works and teachings by leading homeopaths. It will be analysed how above all the homeopaths Pierre Schmidt, Jost Künzli von Fimmelsberg, Horst Barthel and Manfred von Ungern-Sternberg, but also many others, contributed to the renaissance of Kent's teachings.

The last part of the work is devoted to the history of the reception of Kent's writings (Chapter 6), especially his theory of homeopathy, his Materia Medica and his Repertorium (homeopathic reference work), as reflected in the German homeopathic journals. journals. The work concludes with a summary of the most important results and an assessment of Kent's influence on German homeopathy (Chapter 7)."