Franz H. Behncke
Franz Heinrich Behncke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1868 |
| Died | March 1964 (aged 95–96) |
| Occupation | Naturopath |
Franz Heinrich Behncke (1868 – March 1964) was a German-American naturopath and physical culture teacher.
Biography
Behncke was born in Germany in 1868.[1] As a young man he fought in the Second Boer War in South Africa where he was captured and exiled by the British.[1][2] He travelled to Abyssinia and Siam.[3] He later became an alternative health lecturer and immigrated to the United States where he attended the Lindlahr College of Natural Therapeutics from 1914 to 1917.[1] He was Physical Director at the Lindlahr Sanitarium in Elmhurst, Illinois until 1927.[1] At the Lindlahr Sanitarium he was responsible for teaching patients physical education such as bicycle riding, bowling, croquet, gardening and other activities that they could continue after leaving the sanatorium.[4] He also worked at the Sun-Diet Sanitarium in East Aurora, New York from 1929 to 1939 and at Bergholz Institute in Milwaukee from 1940.[1]
He hosted physical culture courses at Waconda Springs and lectured on "nature cure" methods.[3][5] In 1933 whilst lecturing for the Sun-Diet Sanitarium he promoted food combining.[6] In 1940s he became interested in vegetarianism. He was a speaker at a vegetarian convention with George Hebden Corsan, Scott Nearing and Geoffrey L. Rudd at Geneva, Wisconsin hosted by the Vegetarian News Digest in 1949.[7]
Behncke died in March 1964.[1] His papers are archived by the Milwaukee County Historical Society.[1]
Personal life
Behncke was married to Dolly Puhlmann (died 1968).[8] They had four children.[8]
Selected publications
- Pioneer Teachers. Lindlahr College of Nature Cure. 1921.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Franz H. Behncke Papers" (PDF). Milwaukee County Historical Society. 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "His Rulers Quit Him: German Lived in Siam, With Boers". Buffalo Courier Express. March 3, 1939. p. 26.
- ^ a b "Physical Director Talks to American Business Club". The Morning Call. October 15, 1936. p. 5.
- ^ Kirchfeld, Friedhelm (1994). Nature Doctors: Pioneers in Naturopathic Medicine. Medicina Biologica. p. 238. ISBN 978-0962351853.
- ^ "Announcement". The Blue Hill Leader. May 4, 1923. p. 4.
- ^ "Quota Told Too Much Food Poisons System". The Buffalo Times. February 21, 1933. p. February 21, 1933.
- ^ Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko (2022). History of Vegetarianism and Veganism Worldwide (1430 BCE to 1969): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook. Soyinfo Center. p. 1094. ISBN 9781948436731.
- ^ a b "Behncke". Chicago Tribune. October 5, 1968. p. 22.