Homeopathic ‘Travel Pharmacy’ from Ettlingen (Baden)

A truly weighty item was delivered in January: a homeopathic ‘travel pharmacy’ in walnut veneer from Ettlingen in Baden. With dimensions of 68 centimetres in length, 22 cm in height and 45 centimetres in width, as well as its fine inlay work, it is visually impressive. The pharmacy is also filled with numerous vials and labels for labelling. Our research revealed that the Ettlingen city pharmacy was first mentioned in 1718 and is the oldest pharmacy in the city. Friedrich Wilhelm Tummer acquired the pharmacy in 1904. His name can also be seen on the labels, so the ‘travel pharmacy’ that we were able to purchase at an auction house in Saxony probably dates from this period. How the pharmacy came to Saxony and why, among other things, a ‘Notopfer Berlin’ tax stamp was found in the drawer is still open to research. However, it can be assumed that the heavy box was possibly used as a ‘homeopathic dispensary’. Special regulations applied to the storage and sale of homeopathic active ingredients, as was generally the case for the operation of pharmacies. Some pharmacists wanted to offer their customers these special medicines, but did not have separate premises available or did not want to go to the trouble. One option was a so-called ‘dispensatorium’, which contained the necessary active ingredients and their potencies in separate cabinets or, as in this case, boxes. In the recently acquired model, for example, one can see that potent remedies were separated within the box and stored in extra lockable compartments. This was required, for example, by the regulations in Württemberg. Although Baden itself had not issued any specific regulations on the establishment and operation of homeopathic pharmacies, pharmacists presumably took care to maintain the trust of their customers by keeping them separate. The fact that Tummer did not always manufacture the remedies himself is also evident from the vials from the Mayer pharmacy in Bad Cannstatt that are included.

Further information in: Winterhagen, Ines: Homöopathische Apotheken in Württemberg. Von den Anfängen bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg, Essen 2020.