February « 2012 «  

Dr. Ernst Hartmann was born in Mannheim on Nov.10th 1915. A trained physician, he worked as a staff surgeon in World War II, during which time he was captured by Americans. After he was discharged from war captivity, he established his own surgery as a general practitioner, which he ran for more than 40 years.

From 1948 on, Dr. Hartmann and his brother Robert developed an interest in radiesthesia, geo-biology, homeopathy and also construction biology. Together, they developed the model of the so-called “global net grid according to Dr. Hartmann”, which is commonly called the “Hartmann grid” in radiesthesia: it refers to cosmic radiation that surrounds the earth. The direction of the strips is North – South, East – West, the width of the strips being between 20 and 50 cm. The width of the meshes is about 1.80 to 2.50 m in North-South-direction and about 2.50 to 3.30 m in East-West-direction. The course of this system can be influenced by different factors. In residential areas, e.g., the grid structure may be distorted by mirrors or metal items with a large surface such as radiators.

Hartmann assumed already during his time at university and later on as a practitioner that illness is related to the immediate surroundings of a person, especially the sleeping place. He coined the term “geopathy” in radiesthesia. This term refers to factors making people ill, based on “geo-pathogenic zones” such as intersections of earth radiation, water veins or faults. He also used the term “relocation reaction” to describe changes in a person’s state of health after changing the sleeping place. He often observed that health problems disappeared after a radiesthetic examination of the bedroom and a subsequent relocation of the bed.

From 1951, Ernst Hartmann held seminars and conferences on the topic of radiesthesia in Eberbach. In 1961, he founded the “research group for geo-biology Dr. Hartmann”. He was the first chairman of the group for almost 30 years.

Dr. Hartmann was also involved politically in the city and district council. After discovering a well of healing water he played an important part in the city of Eberbach’s success in becoming a spa town. He was also a co-operator of the spa stud farm Mülben and developed regenerative cure treatments from mare’s milk and “kumys” (naturally fermented mare’s milk). Polyxene preparations are also based on the ideas of Hartmann and the pharmacist Derschum. These are homoepathic remedies made from three different kinds of grasses, the types of sedges: Carex alongata (longstanding sedge), Carex Flava (yellow sedge) and Carex Vesicaria (bubble sedge). The grasses are planted in geo-pathogenic irritation zones and processed homeopathically. Polyxene remedies are supposed to influence the vegetative nervous system in order to produce location-specific antibodies. Hartmann also published a few books documenting his research. The standard works include “Illness as a location problem” (Krankheit als Standortproblem), Haug Verlag, Heidelberg, 1964 and “On the constitutions Yin Yang and types of reaction” (Über Konstitutionen Yin Yang und Reaktionstypen), published by the research group for geo-biology, Münsen, 1986.

A holistic view of human beings was crucial to Dr. Hartmann. In his opinion, the interplay of body, mind and soul was in a continuous interaction with a person’s surroundings.

Dr. Hartmann died in Waldkatzenbach on October 23rd 1992. Up to his death, he remained the honor chairman of the research group for geo-biology.

Käthe Bachler is the most well-known Austrian radiesthecist. She was born into a family of mountain farmers in Abtenau / Salzburg in 1923. She trained as a primary school teacher in 1942/43. While she was teaching at a primary school, she also trained as a secondary school teacher, graduating in 1946. Up to 1973, Bachler taught at the secondary school in Hallein / Salzburg.

In 1969 she started occupying herself with radiesthesia, dowsing. As a teacher, she found it vital to point out the negative impact of a study place exposed to radiation on students. She focused on both the children’s desks at home and their desks in the classroom. Due to her profession, she was able to gain many practical insights with regard to this aspect, which she collected in her book “Experiences of a dowser – geo-biological influences on humans”. In the book, she suggests, among other things, a “rolling classroom”, in which the pupils move one seat further every two to three weeks. That way, no child would have to sit in the same place exposed to radiation for the whole school year. Bachler also received a research assignment of the Pedagogic Institute Salzburg.

It was important to Bachler as a radiesthecist to find a “good” sleeping place, workspace or desk, i.e. a place exposed as little as possible to radiation, and not experiment with shielding devices. She has performed thousands of radiesthetic examinations over decades and compiled a multitude of records about them. Having a scientific approach was very important to her.

The recognition of radiesthesia in medicine is an important matter to Bachler. As a religious person, she included Catholic beliefs in her later books. Because of that, she has found a lot of recognition in church-based circles too.

Literature index of Käthe Bachler:

Experiences of a dowser; Veritas, Linz 1981, 5th edition
Geo-biology and location-related illnesses, Neubeuern: Institute for construction biology and ecology, 1989, 7th edition / 1989
Prayer as a lifeline, Veritas, Linz 1998, 4th edition
Is there a spiritual shield?, Landesverl., St.Pölten 2000
Freed from fear, Landesverl., St.Pölten 2003
The good place, Residenz, St.Pölten 2007, 11th edition
Searching for the good place directly, Residenz, St.Pölten 2008, 6th edition

(see German version of blog for original titles)