Emanuel Felke

The Protestant pastor Leopold Erdmann Emanuel Felke (born 7 February 1856 in Kläden near Stendal, Germany; died 16 August 1926 in Munich, buried in Bad Sobernheim) was a naturopath who developed the eponymous Felke cure, and who was active in Repelen near Moers from 1896 to 1914 and in Bad Sobernheim from 1915 to 1925. He also practiced iris diagnosis (iridology) and is considered the co-father of combination homeopathic remedies.

Because his treatments included applications of clay and clay baths, Felke was often referred to as the clay pastor. Felke's regimen included a healthy diet and outdoor exercise. His patients were given meals that contained little meat, healing earth applications and cold baths in outdoor zinc bathtubs, and they had to sleep on clay floors or straw sacks in cabins open to the light and air.

Felke, the son of a teacher and a minister's daughter, became interested in medical issues while he was studying theology and he attended medical lectures for several semesters. He had always been interested in medicinal plants, as well as in the well-known natural healers Hahnemann (the originator of homeopathy) and Priessnitz (hydrotherapy). At his first rectorate in Cronenberg he treated patients with homeopathic remedies during a diphtheria epidemic and was regarded by his patients. In 1894, he began his ministration as pastor at the Protestant village church in Repelen. In 1896, several residents established a homeopathic society in Repelen to support Felke's work because in most cases he dispensed the homeopathic remedies free of charge.

Felke is considered the co-father of combination homeopathic remedies because he, deviating from Hahnemann's teachings, began to combine different active substances to treat chronic diseases. In 1897, Felke and several town representatives traveled to the Harz Mountains where Adolf Just, another well-known natural medicine practitioner of the time, had recently founded a "Jungborn", or health resort, in Eckertal, to see this resort. The visit no doubt left such a strong impression that it was decided to create a similar spa in Repelen.

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