Walter Georg Groddeck ( 1866 – 1934 ) was a physician and writer
regarded as a pioneer of psychosomatic medicine. German physician Georg Groddeck, who practised in Baden-Baden and was the
pathfinder of psychosomatic medicine, astonished his numerous listeners and
readers with his therapy connecting naturopathic treatment with psychoanalytic, suggestive and hypnotic elements. His foot and arm bath, massages
and dietary cuisine are still practised today, although the bold doctrine of
salvation, where he mauled his patients, is necessarily quite authoritarian,
and a more reserved approach would be judged appropriate today. He said “To
provide obedience [is the] foundation of medical art”.
