Wesselhoeft Water Cure
Dr. Wesselhoeft In the 1840’s one in five children born alive did not live to see their 1st birthday. The average life expectancy was less than 40 years. Many doctors bled their patients when they didn’t feel well and prescribed medicines that contained mercury and other poisonous metals. About half of the patients who had surgery died from infections. It was in this medical uncertainty that Dr. Robert Wesselhoeft arrived in Brattleboro and established a “water cure” treatment facility on Elliot Street. The “water cure” aimed to work with nature to heal the body instead of attacking the body with man-made medicines. Fresh air, exercise, healthy foods, community and lots of water were the cornerstones of the Brattleboro Hydropathic Institution, locally known as the Wesselhoeft Water Cure. The “water cure” promoted a healthy lifestyle of diet and exercise. It was thought that many of the ailments facing people of the mid-1800’s stemmed from poor medical […]
