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* 1823 February 23 – born in Wangen an der Aare, Kanton Bern, Switzerland
Bis zu seinem 16. Lebensjahr bekam er nur eine private Allgemeinbildung, teils in Deutschland
1844 – marriage with Marie Landerer
1844 – starts to read works on hydrotherapy by Carl Munde “Memorien eines Wasser-artes” and Alvise Cornaro “Della vita sobria”
1845 – moves with his two brothers to Seebach in Oberkärnten, Austrohungarian empire, nowadays in Austria to expand family bussines by starting there a dye factory (Türkischrot-Garnfärberei)
1847 – invention of Bett-Dampfbad
1852 – after healing himself from pleuritis he fully recovers in Bled (also called Veldes in German language at that time) and decides to start a health center there
1855 – start of the health center in Bled
1857 – publication of the first monograph: “Aufruf an die kranke Menschheit an Körper und Geist, nach den Gesetzen der Natur-Heillehre zu genesen, oder leichtfaßliche Darstellung der Natur, resp. Wasserheilkunde, nach ihrem heutigen Standpunkt”
1859/1860 – start of the health center «Wasserheilanstalt» in Trieste
1860 – publication of the monograph in Italian language: “Massime generali di cura applicate specialmente al libretto Ordinazioni di cura degli Stabilimenti idropatici Mallnerbrunn al Lago di Veldes nella Carniola Superiore e all’acquedotto in Trieste”
1861 – publication of the monograph: “Rikli’s Bett-Dampfbad für Aerzte und Laien”
1861 – practisting and advocating vegetarianism (strictly till 1878)
1865 – expands hydrotherapeutic practice by aerotherapy
1869 – regular use of aerotherapy and airhuts (56 of them built on the shore of the lake in Bled), use of barefoot walking
1869 – publication of the monograph: “Die Thermodiätetik oder das tägliche thermoelectrische Licht und Luftbad als zukünftige Heilmethode”
1872 – publication of the recipe book: “Süddeutsches Vegetarianer-Kochbuch mit Speisekarte für das ganze Jahr” and “Bett- und Theil-Dampfbäder”
1875 – publication of the monograph: “Die diätetische Katarrhalisirung”
1881 – publication of the monograph in English language: “Physico-Hydriatic Establishment for the Cure of Chronic Diseases, at Veldes, Oberkrain, Austria”
1887 – publication of the monograph: “Lehrbuch der Naturheilkunde”
1890 – publication of the monograph: “Die Grundlehren der Naturheilkunde”
1892 – publication of the monograph: “Die atmosphärische Cur oder die Sonne der schärfste Diagnostiker und Prognostiker”
1895 – publication of the monograph: “Die Grundlehren der Naturheilkunde einschliesslich die atmosphärische Cur “Es werde Licht”
1900 – publication of the monograph: “Die Fieberkrankheiten : Volksthümliches Lehrbuch mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Blattern” a prohibited book by the Austrian authorities
1905 – publication of the monograph in French language: “Médecine naturelle et bains de soleil”
1906 – publication of the monograph in Spanish language: “Medicina Natural Y Baños De Sol”
†1906 April 30, deceased in St. Thomas bei Wolfsberg, Kärnten, Austrohungarian empire, nowadays in Austria
missing: dates of the start of the retreat centres in Merano and Florence
Primary sources:
- Alfred Brauchle, D. Heilendes Sonnenlicht, Der Färbereibesitzer Arnold Rikli – Der Sonnen-Doktor in Die Geschichte der Naturheilkunde in Lebensbildern, Stuttgart, Reclam, 1951.
- Uwe Heyll, Wasser, Fasten, Luft und Licht: Die Geschichte der Naturheilkunde in Deutschland, Frankfurt am Main : Campus Verlag, 2006.
- Friedhelm Kirchfeld, Wade Boyle, Discoverer of the atmospheric cure : Arnold Rikli (1823-1906) in Nature doctors : pioneers in naturopathic medicine, Portland, OR : NCNM Press, 2005.
- Zdenko Levental, Arnold Rikli aus Wangen 1823-1906 und seine “Athmosphärische Kur”. In: Jb. des Oberaargaus 20 (1977) 133-144.
- Loris Premuda, La presenza a Trieste di Arnold Rikli (1823-1906) medico idropatico di remota ispirazione cornariana, V: Quaderni per la Storia dell’Universita di Padova, 1992, 25, 525-538.
- Arnold Rikli, Abschiedsworte an meine verehrten Kollegen und Gesinnungsgenossen!, Veldes : Selbstverlag des Verf. : Druck H. Stiasny, Graz, 1903.
- Arthur E. Rikli, Arnold Rikli: A Great-Grandson’s Perspective, in M. F. Holick (editor), Biologic effects of light 2001 : proceedings of a symposium, Boston, Massachusetts, June 16-18, 2001, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
- Zvonka Zupanič Slavec, Cirila Toplak, Water, air and light – Arnold Rikli (1823-1906). Gesnerus, 1998, 55, 1/2,. 58-69.
Secondary sources:
- Didem Ekici, From Rikli’s light-and-air hut to Tessenow’s Patenthaus: Körperkultur and the modern dwelling in Germany, 1890–1914, The Journal of Architecture Volume 13, Issue 4, 2008.
- John L. Fielder, Heliotherapy: The Principles and Practice of Sunbathing, self published, 2001.
- Florentine Fritzen, Gesünder leben: die Lebensreformbewegung im 20. Jahrhundert, Stuttgart : Steiner, 2006
- Michael Hau, The cult of health and beauty in Germany: a social history, 1890-1930, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, ©2003.
- Gordon Kennedy, Children of the sun: a pictorial anthology, from Germany to California 1883-1949, Ojai, Calif.: Nivaria Press, 1998.
- Avinash Sharma, We lived for the body: natural medicine and public health in imperial Germany, DeKalb, IL : NIU Press, 2014.