Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung des Kurpfuschertums


The Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung des Kurpfuschertums was a skeptical association founded in 1903 for consumer protection against quackery. It opposed the Kurierfreiheit, that existed in Germany from 1869/1872 until the adoption of the Heilpraktikergesetz in 1939. The association originated after the example of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten, and is counted as one of the predecessors of the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften.

History

Since 1899, there was a Quackery Commission in the umbrella organisation of physicians' associations, the Ärztlicher Vereinsbund. This led Carl Alexander to found the DGBK in 1903. After the first annual general assembly of 14 January 1904, the DGBK started providing information and cooperated on legislative measures, to which end several commissions were formed. With pamphlets and lectures, lay people as well as professionals were educated. There was lobbying against naturopathy, antivaxxers and also doctors who practised homeopathy. The association primarily sought to warn the public against unskilled lay healers. In 1911, the DGBK participated with the DGBG in the International Hygiene Exhibition of Karl August Lingner, the founder of Odol, in Dresden, to which other organisations were demonstratively not invited. In response, in the summer of 1911 a counter-event was held entitled "Congress of Naturopathy and People's Welfare". The association managed to combine left and conservative forces alike and organise travelling exhibitions. In 1927, 53,000 paying visitors came to an exhibition in Ludwigshafen.
In 1929, the DGBK suggested creating a law against all forms of quackery, to provide legal prerequisites against people who offer medical treatment or obstetrics without appropriate education.
After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, the magazine Gesundheitslehrer ceased publication in 1934 and the DGBK was dissolved.

Publications