Hans Krüger (29 May 1898 in Lübeck – 27 March 1988 in

Niefern-Öschelbronn Niefern-Öschelbronn is a municipality in the Enz district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Enz, 6 km east of Pforzheim. History Öschelbronn had been a possession of the Duchy of Württemberg since 1504, while ...

) was a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

, anthroposophist,

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

and researcher.

Life

His father came from

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

and taught at a grammar school in Lübeck. His mother was from Lübeck. Her father moved from

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

to Lübeck as a young pharmacist and established a studio as a photographer, a new art at that time. Science interested the young Krüger particularly aquaria and terraria. He had a large collection of snails and seashells. The study of

Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...

's basic law of biogenetics caught the attention of the young scholar.http://www.iaap.org.uk/downloads/pioneers-in-anthroposophic-pharmacy-june-2006.pdf Pioneers in Anthroposophic Pharmacy. (homemade translation) Accessed on: 2009-13-4 1917 did military service, first in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

border region and in 1918 in the offensive in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. His older brother sent him Rudolf Steiner's ''Knowledge of the Higher Worlds'' while on the eastern front. After the war he studied at Kiel University. He studied science at first but after the first semester switched to theology as this seemed more important to him during the time. In Berlin his brother drew his attention to Rudolf Steiner's ''Theosophy'' and it was this book that brought him to Anthroposophy. He joined the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

branch of the Anthroposophical Society in 1920. He attended a small anthroposophical group of theology students that year and heard Rudolf Steiner lecture in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. He was in attendance at the first course for university students at the Goetheanum.''Rudolf Steiner Speaks to the Younger Generation. Addresses, Essays, Discussions, and Reports. 1920–1924'' Rudolf Steiner, Christopher Bamford - 2007 "Hans Krüger (theology student, Tübingen) Ernst Kunert (music and philosophy student, Leipzig) Hans Erhard Lauer (philosophy student, Heidelberg) Helmut Lauer (architecture student, Stuttgart) Kurt Laute (mathematics student " He decided to pursue a career in pharmacy and later practiced in Lübeck and then Berlin. 1921 he attended anthroposophical courses for university students in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

and heard

Wilhelm Pelikan Wilhelm Pelikan (Born in Pola (Istria) on 3 December 1893—died in Arlesheim on 17 November 1981) was a German-Austrian chemist, anthroposophist, pharmacist, gardener and anthroposophical medicine practitioner. Life His father was a German-Austri ...

speak. In Berlin he involved himself in the Independent Anthroposophical Society and took part in performing the Oberufer Christmas plays. He continued his studies in pharmacy from 1924 at the same time working part-time at the pharmaceutical laboratories of the Institute of Clinical Medicine. For the next 18 months he worked in pharmacies in

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...

. He married Frieda Meinelt. July 1927 he started to work at the

Weleda Weleda is a multinational company that produces both beauty products and naturopathic medicines. Both branches design their products based on anthroposophic principles, an alternative medicine. The company takes its name from the German form of ...

pharmaceutical works in

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

. The firm was then still in its beginning. He set up ampoule production. Together with Schmiedel, Pelikan and Spiess he was one of the original workers in pharmacy at the Weleda. On suggestion of Rudolf Steiner he worked with Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Dr. Alla Selawry to develop the method of sensitive copper chloride crystallization to study the quality of substance and life. The effects of

biodynamic Biodynamics may refer to: * Biodynamic agriculture, a method of farming based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner ** The Biodynamic Association, a United States-based company that promotes the Biodynamic agriculture system ** Biodynamic wine, wine ...

fertilizers were also investigated.

Works

He published a number of essays. He took care to maintain links with physicians, farmers and the Science Section at the Goetheanum. Hie last major task was to put together all Rudolf Steiner's references to medicinal agents, a task he worked at for years with great care. This work is a valuable reference for physicians and pharmacists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruger, Hans 1898 births 1988 deaths German pharmacists Anthroposophic medicine practitioners 20th-century pharmacists