Carl Haeberlin (15 December 1870 – 12 November 1954), sometimes also spelled Häberlin, was a German physician and natural historian. He was influential for the development of

climatotherapy Climatotherapy refers to temporary or permanent relocation of a patient to a region with a climate more favourable to recovery from or management of a condition. Examples include: * The partial pressure of oxygen is lower at high altitude, so pers ...

and

thalassotherapy Thalassotherapy (from the Greek word ''thalassa'', meaning "sea") is the use of seawater as a form of therapy. Note: Thalasso therapy is a sub-definition under the listing for Thalasso. It also includes the systematic use of sea products and shore ...

in Germany and founded the ''Dr. Carl-Häberlin-Friesenmuseum'' in

Wyk auf Föhr (Fering, ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Wik'', ''a Wik'', or ''Bi a Wik''; da, Vyk på Før) is the only town on Föhr, the second largest of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany, German coast of the North Sea. Like the entire island it belongs ...

. He is not to be confused with the German psychologist Carl Haeberlin (1878–1947).

Biography

Haeberlin was born in

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

, India, as son of a Christian missionary. The family moved back to Germany in 1873 and settled in

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

where Carl Haeberlin spent his youth. He studied medicine, passed his exams in 1895 in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

and received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

. In 1902, he moved to

Föhr Föhr ( ''Fering'' North Frisian: ''Feer''; da, Før) is one of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. Föhr is the second-largest No ...

island in the North Sea where he began to practice. Apart from activities as a

balneologist Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic ef ...

he also worked intensively on climatotherapy and thalassotherapy. His studies and reports formed the basis for the development of these disciplines in Germany. Together with Karl Gmelin he established a centre for bioclimatic research in Wyk auf Föhr which opened in 1926. Already in the early 1900s, Gmelin's and Haeberlin's activities attracted increasing numbers of tourists to the seaside spa of Wyk which had previously been less frequented. In 1902 and 1919 he published two chronicles of the town of Wyk and Wyk as a seaside resort respectively. A museum of natural history and local history in Wyk that he had founded in 1908 was named ''Dr. Carl-Haeberlin-Museum'' in his honour in 1927. The museum displays artifacts from the Viking Age, the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...

, and paintings with local motives. Carl Haeberlin died in 1954 in Wyk auf Föhr. He was survived by his wife Leonore who died on 27 April 1994 aged 94.

Awards and honours

Haeberlin was granted an honorary professorship in 1946. In 1954, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The town of Wyk named a street in his honour.

References

People from Wyk auf Föhr Physicians from Schleswig-Holstein Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1870 births 1954 deaths {{Germany-med-bio-stub