History of the Institute

The history of the Institute for the History of Medicine is inextricably linked to the history of the Robert Bosch Foundation (RBSG) and its founder. During his lifetime (1861–1942), Robert Bosch made his mark with his understanding of entrepreneurship, philanthropic action and political engagement. In addition to the economic activities of his company, Robert Bosch also pursued the goal of improving the living conditions of his time and helping to shape society and the state through his foundations and donations. Robert Bosch founded the Gesellschaft Vermögensverwaltung Bosch GmbH (VVB) in 1921 while drafting his will, which contained the following mandate: ‘My intention is to work not only to alleviate all kinds of hardship, but above all to promote the moral, physical and intellectual strength of the people.’ Robert Bosch cited ‘health, education, training, the promotion of talented individuals, reconciliation between peoples, and the like’ as examples of this. Finally, in 1969, Gesellschaft Vermögensverwaltung Bosch GmbH changed its name to Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH (Robert Bosch Foundation) (https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/robert-bosch-0).

In his will, Robert Bosch named health as the main purpose of his foundation and referred to the relevance of the hospital he supported. Bosch himself had been familiar with homeopathy since childhood and had had positive experiences with the treatment method. In this respect, he gave it priority over conventional medical therapies, seeing the effectiveness of minimal doses proven by results in hormone and vitamin research. Like many of his contemporaries, he believed that conventional medicine was in crisis and represented an overly materialistic and mechanistic view. In 1915, Robert Bosch was involved in founding the Stiftungsinitiative des Stuttgarter Homöopathischen Krankenhauses GmbH. In 1931, a plot of land was purchased on the Pragsattel – the open location seemed favourable for the construction of a hospital, as did the effect of air and light on patients. However, it was not until April 1940 that the Robert Bosch Hospital (RBK) in Stuttgart was opened. In his opening speech, he said: ‘Everyone should contribute to the good of the whole, loving no one and hating no one, people should be healed.’ (https://www.rbk.de/ueber-uns). Even today, the RBK is one of the few private foundation hospitals in Germany.

The Robert Bosch Hospital itself already had a medical history research centre in the 1960s and 1970s. Finally, in 1980, the IGM was founded and moved to Stuttgart East. The IGM is located on the same site as the Robert Bosch House. This house was built in 1910/1911 in the Gänsheide district and served as the residence of the Bosch family. After the Second World War, it initially served as a guest house for the Americans and later as a consulate for the French. Since Robert Bosch's family was unable to move back into the house after the Second World War, another house was built on the grounds of the Robert Bosch House, which now houses the IGM. Medical historian Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. med. habil. Renate Wittern-Sterzel was appointed as the first director of the institute, dedicating herself to the history of homeopathy, among other things. She was succeeded by medical historian Prof. Dr. phil. Werner Friedrich Kümmel between 1986 and 1988. From 1990 to 2020, historian Prof Dr. phil. Dr. h. c. Robert Jütte headed the institute. During this period, research focused on the social history of medicine, the history of homeopathy and pluralism in medicine. The focus on patient history linked these two areas of focus and set new trends in medical history throughout Germany. The same applies to the history of nursing established by the IGM and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

The IGM promoted projects in the fields of ‘social history of medicine’ and ‘medical pluralism,’ some of which were financed by third-party funds. In the field of social history of medicine, more than 40 projects have already been funded, the results of which have been published in the supplement series of 'Medicine, Society and History' (Medizin, Gesellschaft und Geschichte – MedGG) after their completion. These cover a wide variety of topics, such as ‘A voluntary retirement in the land of the perpetrators. Inpatient care for elderly Jews and racially persecuted non-Jews in western post-war Germany (1945 to approx. 1975)’ or ‘Compilation of the history of the Gustav Werner Foundation before 1945’. Medical pluralism was already close to Robert Bosch's heart. When he acquired the Hahnemann estate and participated in the establishment of a Paracelsus library, his intention was to bring homeopathy and other methods that are now considered complementary medicine into dialogue with conventional medicine. This fundamental idea of pluralism in medicine also characterises the historical research of the IGM, which is not limited to the history of homeopathy alone. A total of 16 projects have been funded to date, one example being the ‘Pilot Project for the Digitisation of Hahnemann Manuscripts’. An overview and information on the individual projects and their contributors can be found under the subheading Events / Projects of the research focus.

Since 2020, the IGM has been operating under the direction of Dr. phil. Marion Baschin as the central archive of the Robert Bosch Foundation and its institutions. Since 2022, the IGM has been part of the Bosch Health Campus (BHC), which was founded by the RBSG. The BHC connects all of the RBSG's institutions and activities in the field of health. The currrent research focus of the IGM are the History of Healthcare Professions, Medical Pluralism and Digital Medical History.