A REVOLUTION IN MEDICINE?

"Revue", 14.8.1949 Clarification of a fateful question

The future activity of the Herford miracle man Bruno Gröning, who, according to eyewitness testimony, healed thousands of hopelessly ill people in May and June, 1949, has been made impossible through the intolerance of physicians and officials in northern Germany. On May 3, 1949, Gröning was forbidden to further pursue his healing activity. Since June 29, Gröning has withdrawn from the public eye. But Bruno Gröning has not disappeared; nor is the question of his wonderful healing power settled. For the Revue (a magazine) has opened the way for Gröning to participate in a large medical clinical trial, where he can prove his healing power to critical, but unprejudiced physicians. Thus, the Revue gave Gröning the chance to prove to modern scientists, "I heal the incurable." Today, the Revue begins by publishing the findings of 150 indisputable experiments. Read what our correspondents Bongartz and Laux report in the Revue, under the scientific direction of the psychologist and physician, Prof. Dr. Fischer.

THE PLAN OF THE REVUE

Today, the Revue begins a publication, whose subject matter goes far beyond the purely journalistic. Its focal point is a man who, though simple, has risen to fame in but a few months: Bruno Gröning who, in Herford and other cities, has healed or improved in a wonderful, mysterious way the ailments of thousands of sick people, who had been considered incurable. No politician, no economist, and no artist has moved people in the post-war years as Bruno Gröning has done. Other countries as well, even England and America, have been stirred by the spread of his fame and the sensational press reports that have alternated between praise, skepticism and arrogant rejection. The derisive contempt fed on sensation, uncontrolled rumors and contradictory statements. Almost everywhere there has been a lack of the necessary seriousness, responsibility, impartiality and knowledge of the significance of the problem that Bruno Gröning has brought overnight to public attention from the narrow realm of medical disputes.

The medical collaborators of the Revue have already long concerned themselves with the question of the emotional causes of most illnesses, and have been studying the development of relevant research in the non-German world, which often goes unnoticed in Germany. In the case of Gröning, it is a matter not only of the person of the miracle doctor, but of the significant question of the psychological, i.e., mental causes of illness and of the consideration of these causes in the psychotherapeutic treatment of patients. Gröning may be a phenomenon in the area of the treatment of mentally-caused illnesses. Therefore, as the campaign around Gröning in northern Germany took on a more and more chaotic form - on some days, as many as 6,000 people gathered in front of his place of activity - the Revue came to what is an unusual decision for a magazine.

The conflict between Gröning's countless followers and his few, but influential, opponents had meanwhile increased to an intolerable extent. A medical commission and the Herford officials issued Gröning a prohibition to heal. In Herford, Hamburg and many other cities, however, thousands of sick people continued waiting for the miracle man’s help. Finally, the official authorities were seized by a great helplessness in the face of the Gröning phenomenon, so that one had to fear an unhappy end to this phenomenon itself. Would Gröning be worn out between the power of the opponents and the power of the believers? Would the simple, intellectually clumsy man Gröning - who is, however, filled with a genuine sense of mission and honest readiness to help - perish because of ‘supporters’ who sidled up to him to cash in on his healing power and thus exposed him to his opponents in numerous cases? Or would a medical or other scientific institute in Germany - out of an honest desire to do research - agree to give Bruno Gröning the opportunity to clinically verify his abilities? Any larger clinic in the USA today would readily agree to this. After fruitless discussions, it was to be feared at the end of June that Gröning would be worn out. The question as to whether he would be acknowledged as having a wonderful, salutary ability to influence others spiritually, or whether it would be certified that his alleged abilities were a mistake - even charlatanism - remained unanswered for millions of suffering people.

At this point in time, the Revue decided to send a special staff of correspondents to northern Germany, consisting of Helmut Laux, Heinz Bongartz and a scientist, the Marburg psychologist and physician Prof. H.G. Fischer. The staff were supposed to locate Gröning, whose tracks were already starting to blur. They were supposed to carefully examine a large number of cases treated by Gröning and give a convincing account of the success or failure of his healings. In the case of a positive outcome of this preliminary examination, the Revue staff were supposed to form an impression of the circumstances surrounding Gröning and of the person of Gröning himself. Depending on the results of these investigations, the staff had the assignment and the means to separate Gröning from the possibly unfavorable influence of his environment and pave the way for him to escape the smothering chaos among believers, physicians and bureaucratic authorities. After obtaining his approval, Gröning would be provided asylum in an unknown, secluded place. At the same time, the Revue staff - in the case of a favorable outcome of the preliminary examinations - would make preparations to win the cooperation of a leading German university clinic. It would give Gröning the opportunity to prove his abilities in the presence of a committee of scientists. In the case of failure, a clear, incontestable report would inform the public of the negative result. This was the Revue’s plan.

Its realization began on June 28, 1949. It brought with it difficulties, adventure and surprises. But the plan succeeded, without the public being able to find out about it - to assure its success - until today. For them, Gröning had disappeared on June 29, 1949 at 11:45 PM in Hamburg. Today, the Revue begins with the in-depth report of the correspondents and the leading physicians on the prehistory and history of the greatest and most astonishing medical experiment that was ever made possible with the help of a magazine.

Bruno Gröning: the phenomenon of a doctor of the soul

By Helmut Laux and Heinz Bongartz, under the scientific direction of psychologist Professor Fischer

On the tracks of Bruno Gröning

The attitude of the doctors

We left Frankfurt on June 29, the very same day that Gröning disappeared from Hamburg without a trace. We journalists were naturally curious, and, although he was reserved, Professor Fischer couldn't completely hide his curiosity. But he was determined to approach the Gröning case systematically and to form a judgment slowly and conscientiously. Our collaboration with Professor Fischer was excellent from the very first day. He had gone through the usual medical education. As a traditional physician, he was in a position to assess cases of illness and to judge whether they had deteriorated or been healed. On the other hand, he was a psychologist and practiced with the help of psychoanalysis (analysis of the mind) and psychotherapy (therapy of the mind). If it did actually prove to be effective, however, Gröning's method would have to be categorized as therapy of the mind – unless Gröning had other powers at his disposal that are still unknown to psychotherapy today.

We arrived in Bielefeld on the evening of June 29, and since Professor Fischer coincidentally already knew the director of the healing institutions in Bethel, Professor Schorsch, we went to him first. Professor Schorsch had played an essential role in the medical commission whose decision had contributed to the prohibition against healing for Gröning. At first he didn't want to see us journalists and received only Professor Fischer and told him of the impression he had of Gröning: He is a totally primitive person; above all, he has no "charisma." For those who don't know the word, we should add that the scientists define that as "a sense of mission". Schorsch said that the “sense of mission” that Gröning often spoke of in Herford and elsewhere is "pure dramatics". It is much more a matter of egoism and arrogance. As proof of what he said, Schorsch showed us a written expert opinion that stated the same. Professor Fischer took notice of his judgment. By the way, Professor Schorsch did not give the impression of conscious prejudice. He seemed somewhat uninterested. He was plump and pleasant, and it seemed as though he would prefer to hear nothing more of the Gröning case. He probably did not like to plunge into emotional excitement and wanted to have no further inconvenience. He said we shouldn't depend on his judgment, but should dig into the case for ourselves.

Prof. Dr. Wolf, the head physician of the city healing institutions in Bielefeld, was more open. He definitely appeared to share our opinion that the Gröning case had to be checked out without reservation. He pointed out, however, that it was well known that they had offered Gröning the opportunity to prove his ability in clinics. What should he think of the fact that Gröning rejected this offer? Could one blame the physicians if they observed a man with extraordinary skepticism who had refused to demonstrate his abilities to them?

We ourselves naturally also wondered why Gröning had avoided such a clinical observation and appraisal of his treatment methods. Did Gröning have reason to doubt Professor Wolf's objectivity? When Professor Fischer arranged a few weeks later for Gröning to practice before the physicians of the Bielefeld city healing institutions, he had to experience that only one intention existed, namely to destroy Gröning; while giving the appearance of being obliging, they brought him only cases that were beyond help, even for Gröning. Professor Fischer therefore had to abstain from allowing Gröning's methods to be appraised by the Bielefeld physicians.

Further, it was said that the Detmolder public medical officer, Dr. Dyes, had told Gröning that it didn't matter how much proof of his healing ability he furnished, they would prevent his work anyway! Therefore, Professor Fischer called Dr. Dyes by telephone from Herford and asked him about this, and Dr. Dyes made no bones about his statement. Gröning had made a bad impression on him. Dr. Dyes was full of medical arrogance, and extraordinarily satisfied with his own position.

In this way, Gröning was to lose all faith that the physicians would have an objective attitude, so one cannot blame him for not accepting the offer of hospital experiments. The natural, simple man’s instincts had sensed the unfair intentions that lay in wait for him.

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The flood of chronic illnesses of psychological origin

On June 30, we first started in Northrhine-Westphalia, but thereafter went up as far as the Hamburg area, examining patients Gröning had treated and apparently healed. This was easier said than done.

The sick people treated by Gröning had returned to their home areas. No one had recorded their exact names and addresses. Gröning, like a wandering healer in the true sense of the word, went around healing wildly, and except for stories, press notices, allegations and rumors, no exact material about his activity was available, even from his followers. We would probably have had to overcome considerable difficulty if pure coincidence had not connected us with a man in Bielefeld who had already attempted to get a certain overview of Gröning's actual successes before us.

This man, by the name of Lanzenrath, was the district director of a health insurance fund. He was smart, down-to-earth and farsighted. He had been able to penetrate the "entourage" that had formed around Gröning – at that time we couldn't yet judge whether they were believers or profiteers – some members of which had remained in the Hülsmann home, where Gröning had been active, after his departure for Hamburg. He was just as convinced of Gröning's ability to influence and heal numerous illnesses as he was of his personal modesty. But he was afraid that the "entourage" would direct Gröning's good attributes in the wrong direction. Lanzenrath himself was at first mistrustful of us. But at the same time, it was also Professor Fischer who opened doors for our group and moved Lanzenrath to help us further and to cite cases he knew of, where closer investigation could lead to conclusions about the seriousness of the Gröning phenomenon. The motives that had led Lanzenrath to Gröning's entourage, by the way, were extraordinarily interesting. An illness, a painful kidney ailment, had also led him to Gröning. Since then – two months had passed, meanwhile – he had been free of pain. At the same time, the fate of his health insurance funds had caused him to seek a connection with Gröning. He told us that the German health insurance funds were threatened with financial breakdown because they were confronted with a sea of chronic illnesses that simply would not heal. He thus naturally confirmed something that is well known to the psychotherapists who pay attention to what has been happening in our time. The Second World War, with all its trauma, left behind a real flood of illness that, for the most part, would have had emotional causes, which are, however, expressed organically, from countless stomach and rheumatic ailments to marked neurosis or paralysis. For these illnesses, the psychologists have created the concept of the so-called 'psychosomatic' illnesses. After the currency reform, they were able to statistically identify a new rise in the number of illnesses that had never before appeared to this extent and which could hardly be attributed to organic causes. Lanzenrath had actually hoped to find a method of healing through Gröning that could perhaps serve to relieve the overburdened insurance funds. Lanzenrath had carefully observed a large number of treatments and healings. He first introduced to us to 20 cases. In the period of a week we carefully analyzed and investigated these cases and, wherever possible, interviewed the respective family doctors in order to clarify the question that was decisive for us: "Can Gröning heal?”

On July 8, we surveyed the results of the 20 investigations. Among the 20 cases there were seven that were perhaps interesting, and here and there even somewhat mysterious, but they gave no clear picture for or against Gröning. Of all cases we first worked hard on these seven. On the third day of investigation we were inclined to despair. At least that was true for us laypersons.

The Housing Office

There was, for instance, the Klüglich case in Bielefeld. Klüglich, an ordinary white-collar worker, had been shot through the kidney during the war. The injured kidney functioned only partially. After the war, the second kidney became greatly inflamed and it advanced to that stage that the doctors treating him were considering an operation. We saw the x-rays and other findings. Before Pentecost, Klüglich had approached Gröning through a letter to Lanzenrath. At first, he "distance-healed" and asked Klüglich to carefully observe what happened in his body over the next days. Klüglich noticed an increased activity of the kidneys and a lot of dark-colored urine and after that, a growing relief from his complaints.

The doctor treating him also confirmed an improvement. Afterwards, Gröning visited Klüglich personally, and the improvement continued. Klüglich had left his bed and went on walks. However, when we visited him and Professor Fischer examined him, his condition had worsened again. The Professor soon learned that Klüglich had been granted an additional room from the Housing Office due to his illness. Since word had quickly gotten around about his "healing," the Housing Office had informed him that, under these circumstances, they had to take back the room. On the same day, the worsening of his condition set in again. It was obviously not a pretense, but a genuine worsening, which was however, doubtless to be attributed to a mental cause, namely fear of losing the room and the association between the ideas of illness and possession of the room. It was naturally nonsense to speak of a healing. In this case, traditional medicine could point out that Gröning had merely succeeded in bringing the sick person out of his lethargy and thereby temporarily increased his resilience. They admitted the immediate relationship between psychic treatment and the power of the body to resist illness, but rightfully rejected the idea of a healing. The question naturally remained open as to what Gröning could have achieved, had he been able to continue to influence the patient.

She sat on her cash-box

The second case was that of Mrs. W., also from Bielefeld. She was a widow and owner of a bicycle shop. She oversaw the shop and the family from an armchair in the kitchen behind her shop. For 15 years, she had suffered from demonstrable problems with walking and dropsical swelling of her legs. Her heart and kidney activity were, however, normal. On the other hand, there were signs of rheumatoid arthritis. Gröning had sat with her for half an hour and predicted a quick recovery. After that, she was able to walk around the yard and felt quite well. The professor determined that the edema was only negligible. An examination by the physician who had also treated her found considerable decline in the swelling since Gröning had visited Mrs. W. Recently, however, the complaints appeared to slightly worsen again. In this case, too, did the psychological uplift and stimulation bring about a temporary improvement which – while again pointing out the close relationship between emotional condition and illness – was not sufficiently conclusive for us? That is, unless one in this case also expected a continuing and conclusive success through regular treatment by Gröning. It is also an interesting discovery that Mrs. W. had sat for many years on her cash-box, and that the difficulty in walking, which bordered on paralysis, could have been exacerbated by the compulsion to continually guard the cash-box. Gröning had probably also temporarily eliminated this compulsion, which is in itself a remarkable achievement, which, for a normal psychotherapist would have required days or even weeks, instead of half an hour. But this achievement, too, did not suggest anything unusual enough in Gröning's work to justify our support of major clinical experiments.

Gröning gave her a silver ball...

Then there was the Schwerdt case in Bielefeld. This concerned two patients: a girl, the daughter of a minor official or white-collar worker, whose mother exerted an oppressive influence on her; and, secondly, a factory owner who seemed to be watched by his inheritance-seeking relatives. The man and the girl had begun a relationship with one another, and as a result, the man came into violent conflict with his family. The girl was faced with continual reproach from her mother, who wanted nothing to do with the rich man because "nothing could come of it." Both of them, the man and the girl, finally lost courage. They separated. The girl became ill with an unusually severe cardiac neurosis, which forced her to lie down continually. The man had an accident at the same time and stayed in bed, even after the injury was long healed. He felt drawn to his beloved. To avoid following this urge, he grew obsessed with being ill and took to his bed. Gröning treated the case. On his first visit with the girl, he effected a considerable improvement, so that Miss Schwerdt could leave her bed. She then visited Gröning and gave him the name of the factory owner, among other names of persons he should help, without saying anything further about him. But Gröning obviously suspected the true circumstances. He took the silver paper of a cigarette package out of his pocket and gave the ball he made from it to the girl with the command to hold it in her hand until she could personally put it in the hand of the man she had named. He would then regain his health. Miss Schwerdt carried the ball in her hand for 36 hours.

Meanwhile, through the rumors that were circulating, the man heard about Gröning's successes and his instructions to Miss Schwerdt. Curiosity drove him from his bed to the girl. The severed relationship was thereby restored, and both felt healthy again. In reply to Professor Fischer's question as to whether they both saw one another regularly, the girl said, "Yes, unfortunately." The actual conflict that had brought on all the havoc, the tension with the mother and with the relatives respectively, had not been removed – for she had said "unfortunately" - and could sooner or later give rise to the old situation again.

The impression in this case was also unclear. Nevertheless, here, too, Gröning had removed an ailment brought about through emotional complexities in an amazingly short time. He had correctly recognized the situation with remarkable powers of empathy and had employed a trick with the little ball method which the best psychotherapist could be proud of. He had, however, failed to see that the cause had remained. The Schwerdt case was the first case that began to convince Professor Fischer about Gröning. If there was nothing else of an unusual nature to find out about Gröning, it couldn't be denied that he possessed a surprising natural talent for psychotherapy.

The recalcitrant motorcycle

The so-called "Wehmeyer case" was very strange. Wehmeyer was a haulage contractor in Herford. He was active, powerful and with healthy nerves, certainly not the kind of man who would kid himself. He had also gone to Gröning to get help for his wife, who lay in a clinic in Münster with a chronic illness of an indeterminable nature. Gröning had explained to him, "Your wife will, after a certain time, express the wish to come home. But you are not allowed to go there earlier and prompt her to come home." Wehmeyer was, as mentioned, a man who neither believed in clairvoyance, nor liked to take orders. So, against Gröning's instructions, he got on his motorcycle and went off to Münster to see his wife. It was then that a strange event took place that he simply couldn't cope with. Along the way, the motorcycle stopped running. He then went to a repair shop in Bielefeld. They examined the cycle from top to bottom – the cycle was in good condition. It should have run. The mechanic changed the plugs, did everything possible, but couldn't understand why the motorcycle wouldn’t work. At a loss, he told Mr Wehmeyer he’d better drive home again. Wehmeyer started back. And the moment he turned back toward Herford, the motorcycle ran as if nothing had been wrong. He happily turned it around. It immediately stood still again. It wouldn't run in the direction of Münster.

Still completely shaken by this spooky event, Wehmeyer then went a short time later to Münster by train. There his wife indeed spontaneously said she would like to go home at once. She felt considerably better and the physician treating her also said that he had finished his treatment.

The hot current
An unusual preliminary success

On the fifth day of our investigation, we experienced our first really great surprise. And from that day on, there was one surprise after the other, which finally led to an incident that, without exaggeration, must be called a sensation.

We had all driven to Hamburg, because Lanzenrath knew of a case there that seemed particularly impressive to him. Moreover, the case had been closely medically monitored. It was a matter of the little daughter of Mr. Mendt, who ran a car repair shop in Hamburg. The child had survived spinal poliomyelitis, but was left with paralysis in her legs.

Here there was a precise, carefully-compiled case history with clear diagnosis. Gröning had treated the child in his usual way, through calmly sitting opposite her, slowly asking her about her physical feelings, and perhaps lightly stroking her with his hand. Then he left, after instructing them to carefully write down what else the child felt in her body in the days to come. This had been carefully done, and Prof. Fischer now read that the child had felt tugging pains in her legs going toward the lower back. These increased and gave way to an increasing warmth and strong flow of blood in the paralyzed legs. The child began to make movements again, which she previously had not been able to make. Professor Fischer carefully examined the limbs of the child and found that the circulation of blood was astonishingly good. The entire process reminded him of the principle of "autogenic training," although it had not as yet been successfully applied to spinal poliomyelitis. "Autogenic training" was developed and taught in Germany by Prof. I. H. Schulz, former lecturer in psychotherapy at the University of Jena. Schulz's methods were basically nothing other than the application of the old, well-known and – for every European – mysterious practice of Indian yoga in modern European medicine. It put all physicians trained by him in a position to steer the blood circulation of their patients into particular parts of the body through an emotional influence that should not be confused with hypnosis. They didn't succeed in all cases. Above all, it demanded weeks, sometimes months of effort, which really deserved the name "training." Here in the Mendt case, Gröning had chalked up an initial success that was completely unusual. Even if a medically-trained psychotherapist had tackled the case, he would at best have required many weeks to achieve the result that Gröning brought about in half an hour. Fischer had another long conversation with the Hamburg Professor Burckhard, and both were so excited that Professor Fischer said for the first time that he was now of the opinion that Gröning possessed unusual psychotherapeutic powers, that he emitted a vibration or something else which had to be investigated in a large clinical test. In the same way, the possibility of influencing spinal poliomyelitis and its consequences should be observed over a long period through a continuing treatment.

No physician could help him

The very next day brought a new, impressive surprise. Lanzenrath had brought us to another patient of Gröning, a Mr. Kargesmeyer in Bad Oeynhausen. Kargesmeyer was 47 years old, and from two years of age had suffered from headaches that developed over time to a severe trigeminal neuralgia. This involves pain in the facial nerves that is one of the most terrible forms of suffering there is. The severity of this pain can drive people to suicide. The ailment can rarely be influenced by a normal physician. Medication offers only partial relief of the pain. In totally desperate cases, they try to obliterate the nerves through alcohol injections or simply by severing them. In both cases it is a matter of a difficult operation with uncertain results. Kargesmeyer had undergone various operations. Finally, they removed his tonsils and sinuses through a radical operation in a clinic in Münster, since it was suspected that an inflammation located there was the cause of the facial pain. The operation had had no effect on the neuralgia. Naturally, it was possible that the inflammation mentioned had originally provoked the neuralgia. But after the removal, the pain remained "fixated" in the facial nerves, similar to the terrible pain that amputees often feel in the nerves of the amputation stump and thus have the impression that the pain runs through the whole arm or amputated leg which is no longer present. Gröning had treated Kargesmeyer. He had asked him to hold his head firmly between his hands.

After that, Kargesmeyer felt a hot current in his face. The pain continued for a few days, but then disappeared more and more, day by day. He had already been free of pain for four weeks.

Here also, an unusual ability to steer the circulation of blood had obviously led to success. Perhaps other factors were also involved. But at this moment, they could not play a role for us. Up until then, only a miniscule number of trigeminal neuralgia cases were known to have been treated by psychotherapy. And in those cases, it had taken weeks and months before success was achieved. Gröning had done it in a short session – an achievement that is unparalleled to this day.

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The famous case of Dieter Hülsmann

The next day we were in Herford again, and Lanzenrath suggested to Fischer that he take a look at the case of Dieter Hülsmann. It involved the nine-year-old son of the engineer Hülsmann, whose alleged healing had brought Gröning out of seclusion. For the first time, we entered the house from which Gröning's fame had gone out and in which he had stayed until just a short time before. Dieter Hülsmann had never learned to walk properly. But they had not recognized the true character of his ailment. For a long time, he was forced into plaster casts. Finally, they determined at the university clinic in Münster that he had progressive muscular dystrophy, which is advanced muscular atrophy.

After the almost one-year stay in Bethel that followed, one of the physicians there declared, "You can leave the boy here. You can also take the boy home. No one can help him." After all, the child could no longer sit, and his legs were ice-cold. Heated blankets, hot-water bottles and electric pads could not get rid of the incessant coldness and numbness. Gröning had carried out a one-time treatment while he was in this condition. Shortly thereafter, the boy felt an intense burning in his back and a sudden warming of his legs. It persisted, and thus the boy was able to walk again, although in a wobbly fashion.

The case of Dieter Hülsmann was drawn with vehemence into the controversy of opinion, and both sides indulged in untenable exaggeration. It could surely not be called a "healing." But in the same way, the assertion that nothing had changed through Gröning's treatment was a malicious distortion. After a careful examination, Professor Fischer was of the opinion that it was indeed a neurotic, progressive muscular atrophy, that is, a degeneration of the nerve that runs from the spinal cord to the muscles and obviously influences their nourishment and development. The starting point of the degeneration is probably located in the cells of the anterior horn. The nerve fibers coming from the cerebrum come together here. A transfer or commutation of the impulses coming from the brain takes place here, without these fibers coming into immediate contact with the nerves leading to the muscles. It could not be denied that the degenerated nerves had experienced an unusual stimulation, which was then passed on to the leg muscles. What astonished us the most, however, was the fact that Gröning had made a diagnosis which had been uncannily close to the anatomic reality.

Kargesmeyer had already maintained that Gröning had told him, unsolicited, that he suffered from facial pain, and that this had tormented him since the age of two. We had regarded this as the exaggeration of a grateful patient. With Dieter Hülsmann, however, there was a definite report on Gröning's diagnosis, confirmed by witnesses. Gröning had spoken of a torn nerve in the spinal cord, defining the place in which the diseased cells of the anterior horn are located. This is where the boy had then experienced the previously-mentioned burning and thereafter, a strange fluttering, which Gröning called a beginning regeneration and which he compared with the flickering of a light bulb into which electricity slowly "flows." This explanation sounded primitive. But it came so close to reality, that this experience moved us profoundly.

On the verge of the uncanny

The last decision in favor of Gröning came about, however, through an experience that we had shortly after Professor Fischer's examination of Dieter Hülsmann. We were led into a living room, without suspecting that Gröning had worked here. Professor Fischer sat down wearily on one of the arm chairs that were there. At almost the same moment, his face became deathly pale. He gasped for breath, but quickly got control of himself. Then he looked at us through narrowed eyes, as if a mysterious power, whose origin he could not explain, had just touched him. He told us that at the moment he sat down, he had felt a violent pain in the area of his right kidney and, simultaneously, palpitations of the heart and shortness of breath. His right kidney had been inflamed several times in the past. It was his body’s weakest organ. As we further puzzled over the strange phenomenon, Lanzenrath came into the room and said that the professor was sitting in the very chair in which Gröning had treated his sick people.

Prof. Dr. Fischer’s unusual healing success by means of the arm chair, in which Gröning healed numerous sick people in Herford. When Prof. Fischer sat down in this chair, he felt touched by a mysterious energy and got the idea to use the energy active in this chair for a treatment of a young woman suffering from paralysis for years. The treatment forms the highlight of our report today.

Gröning had always maintained that he could leave special power behind in a chair. Had the professor perhaps perceived some of that? "Certainly," said Fischer, in the somewhat oppressive stillness that emanated from us. But he was already occupied with some kind of plan. He suddenly asked Lanzenrath to come with him and went into the garden where, just as on the day we’d arrived in Herford, the sick people were waiting patiently or desperately. He looked for a paralyzed person and found a young girl, who lay helpless in an arbor, her legs immobile. With Lanzenrath's help, he carried her into the living room, where she was put onto the mysterious chair. Then he began to treat her in his usual way, as a psychotherapist. He quickly determined the cause of her paralysis.

The girl, Anni Schwedler, 21 years old, came from Darmstadt, and had experienced a heavy air-strike on the city in the autumn of 1944. Anni was buried with her mother and around 20 other people in the air-raid shelter of a brewery. All of the others, including her mother, were able to escape through an emergency exit that they had been able to open wide enough for a person to get through. Somehow, however, the girl’s body got stuck in the opening in the wall. The house was ablaze. The girl's hair had already caught fire. At the very last moment, the air-raid warden was able to pull Anni out and extinguish her burning clothing with a jet of water. Even as she was describing it, her horrified facial expression showed the inner process that must have taken place within her back then. Shortly after her rescue, she already had felt insecure when walking. A few days later, she began to stumble. Her walking became more and more unsteady, until her legs were completely paralyzed. All medical treatment proved unsuccessful. And now the girl sat in the strange chair that had given Professor Fischer such a severe shock.

As the girl finished her description, the professor reached the following conclusion: if Gröning had left mysterious healing powers in his chair, then these powers should still have an effect on the sick people in his absence. He briefly told the girl about Gröning and that he had already helped many paralyzed people in this room. And he did something else – he showed the girl a picture of Gröning. Then, charged with inner tension, he very abruptly commanded, "Stand up!" He thought that Gröning would act in a similar manner. The girl's face all of a sudden shone, and Anni got up from the arm chair almost boldly, and was so astonished and overcome from her ability to stand up, that she at first didn't dare to take a step. The professor commanded again, "Now walk!" Lanzenrath, who stood nearby, had to take the girl lightly by the hand, and then she walked with still insecure steps and with tears of joy across the whole room to the chair where Anni's completely overwhelmed mother sat. But here, Anni Schwedler collapsed. The experiment had to be carried out a second time. In this second attempt, Fischer also showed the patient Gröning's picture, and as he did so, noticed signs of a stronger circulation of blood in the previously paralyzed legs, redness and a developing warmth. The girl got up again. The professor commanded her to stand up and sit down again a few times. Standing up got better and better. Finally, the girl was able to go out of the room and all the way over the courtyard to a nearby street. From there she was then taken in a car to a relative in Herford.

We had all watched the experiment in breathless suspense. On that same evening, we notified the Revue that we had to extend our stay in northern Germany. There was no longer any doubt that Gröning was a phenomenon that had to be clarified through the planned clinical experiments. We wanted to try to make contact with Gröning the next day, in order to pave the way for him to the physicians of the Heidelberg University Clinic, so that he could prove his abilities in their presence.

Sequence of events surrounding Bruno Gröning from March 1949 onwards

The confusion of these events is so great, that only with great trouble were we able to half-way bring them in order for the outside observer.

March 18, 1949
Bruno Gröning's star is suddenly rising in Herford. The alleged or actual healing of Dieter, the son of the Herford engineer Hülsmann, who was suffering from muscular atrophy, has become known to the public. News of further healings follows. Rumors and reports spread like the wind. Great crowds of the sick gather before the Hülsmann home at 7 Wilhelmsplatz in Herford, where Gröning is staying.

April 4, 1949
The beginning of Gröning's public healing activity in Herford. A huge response. Gröning becomes the Miracle Worker of Herford. He is elevated by some to the status of a kind of messiah, all the more since he himself attributes his effect to divine powers.

April 27, 1949
As a result of the huge crowds of people, the authorities, in particular the health authorities, intervene. Gröning and Hülsmann are asked to meet with the director of the health department in Herford, Senior Medical Officer Dr. Siebert. Siebert explains that he had tolerated Gröning's activity up to then, but must now step in because of the great number of sick people and his responsibility to the public health system. He attempts to determine the details of Gröning's work in a rather tactless, provocative manner. Gröning says he has no right to do this and instead invites him to convince himself of his methods and successes at his place of work. Siebert rejects this on the grounds that he couldn't make a fool of himself.

In the days that follow, Hülsmann, Senior Medical Officer Dr. Siebert, and the Herford Detective Investigator Auer meet three times. Hülsmann insists - as an enthusiastic follower of Gröning, also not in a very clever way - that the gentlemen should convince themselves of Gröning's successes. Siebert declines. Auer behaves objectively.

April 30, 1949
In the face of the growing crowd of people seeking healing and the growing difficulties with the authorities, Gröning holds a kind of press conference at the Hülsmann home. The press had meanwhile seized upon the Gröning case, sensationalized it and published numerous false reports and distortions of the case. The Herford Chief Municipal Director Meister comes to the conference along with Superintendent Kunst. Gröning corrects the false reports. However, no real relationship is established between the somewhat insecure and inhibited Gröning, who has had no experience negotiating with physicians or in dealing with people from the press, and the others who are present. The authorities' fear of a disturbance of public order by the huge crowds of sick people, mistrust or open rejection of the physicians and lack of objectivity by the press prevail.

May 3, 1949
Chief Municipal Director Meister makes a visit to Gröning in the Hülsmann home. He personally chooses a woman with signs of paralysis from the crowd of those waiting and leads her to Gröning. Gröning achieves an obvious success, and Meister leaves greatly impressed.

May 3, afternoon
Nevertheless, in the afternoon, the Chief Municipal Director sends Gröning a prohibition against any further healing activity. It allows for an appeal period of three weeks. The relationship between the authorities, Gröning and the waiting masses, among whom numerous remarkable healings have taken place during the previous weeks, becomes ever more complex.

May 13, 1949
Just ten days after the prohibition, which is superficially based on the Non-Medical Practitioners Act of the Third Reich, a medical commission appears in the Hülsmann home. It consists of the director of the city hospitals of Bielefeld, Prof. Dr. Wolf, the director of the healing institutions in Bethel, Prof. Dr. Schorsch; and the Senior Medical Officer of Bielefeld, Dr. Rainer. Also present are Chief Municipal Director Meister and Superintendent Kunst. Kunst and Wolf try to remain objective. Dr. Rainer is completely negative. He declares, "Gentlemen! Nothing which will be shown to you here is new to medical science. We can treat these kinds of cases with the same success. If I come here, I want to see miracles." The alliance between Gröning’s medical opponents and the helplessness of the authorities in the face of the phenomenon of Gröning and his ability to move the masses, solidifies. However, Gröning receives the offer to prove his healing ability in clinically verifiable cases by a deadline of June 28 in any university clinic of the British zone of Germany, in the Bielefeld city hospitals, or the Bethel clinic, following arrangement with the senior physicians.

In the next days:
Despite verbal and written notices by Gröning and his assistants of the healing prohibition and the uselessness of waiting, the seekers of healing persist in staying in front of the Hülsmann home. Healings which are difficult to verify also occur. These are only explicable as occurring through a distance effect by Gröning on those waiting.

May 20, 1949
Gröning declares himself ready to prove his healing ability in the city hospitals of Bielefeld, but aborts the trip to Prof. Wolf out of an instinctive distrust, a fear of a possible trap on the part of the physicians. A Mr. Klemme, whom Gröning had healed, plays a role here. Klemme suggests to Gröning that he give up the battle with the Herford authorities and instead negotiate with the district president in Detmold, Drake, whom he knows well.

May 23, 1949
The relationship is formed with Drake under unfortunate circumstances. At the insistence of a Mr. Egon-Arthur Schmidt, who has appeared in Gröning's circle and who calls himself an editor, Gröning gives a so-called "distance-diagnosis" of the condition of Drake's health on the evening before the visit with Drake. Gröning's distance-diagnoses are a very special thing that are not easily interpreted in medical terms. (In the course of the Revue report, they will be covered in detail). Convinced of Gröning's ability, Schmidt presents the distance-diagnosis to Drake. He notices some mistakes in it. The Detmold Public Health Officer, Dr. Dyes, a definite opponent of Gröning who took part in the meeting, wins the upper hand. He literally declares to Gröning that he can do and prove what he will, but the healing prohibition will not be lifted (Dr. Dyes confirms this statement himself to the Revue collaborator, Dr. Fischer). Dyes' words have a disastrous effect on further developments. Gröning's instinctive distrust of the medical profession is finally solidified and renders a reasonable collaboration impossible from his side, too. Dr. Dyes had not pointed out to Gröning the sections of the Non-Medical Practitioners Act that deal with exceptions. They state that in exceptional cases, special permission for the carrying out of a healing practice can be granted, notwithstanding the sections of the law.

May 24, 1949
A meeting takes place between Gröning and city director Wöhrmann, a representative of Chief Municipal Director Meister, who is on holiday. According to the statement of eight witnesses, Wöhrmann uses words to the following effect: If 1,000 people are waiting in front of the house at 7 Wilhelmsplatz, this crowd doesn't interest him. The healing of sick is of secondary importance. What interests him is only salvation and the forgiveness of sins. All physical suffering is small in relation to salvation. Since Gröning does not answer the question as to whether he could carry out the forgiveness of sins, Wöhrmann is completely dissatisfied with the conversation with Gröning.

June 7, 1949
Another medical commission – this time including Wöhrmann and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Siebert - visits Gröning. A five-hour confrontation. The prohibition of all healing activity is upheld. Extension of the appeal deadline until July 28. Gröning is again given the previously-known offer to prove his healing ability in clinics and hospitals. As a result of Gröning's deep-rooted mistrust, this does not come about. (As Revue representative Prof. Dr. Fischer later determines, this mistrust was not unjustified).

June 18-19, 1949
In order to calm down the thousands of sick people waiting for Gröning at the Wilhelmsplatz, Wöhrmann feels forced to temporarily relax the prohibition on healing.

June 20, 1949
Demonstration of those waiting for healing in front of the city hall and the Wöhrmann home. The police are powerless.

June 21, 1949
The prohibition is relaxed again.

24 June, 1949
Chief Municipal Director Meister returns and confirms the prohibition. Renewed demonstrations. The confusion of circumstances becomes more and more dreadful.

June 25, 1949
At the invitation of the Hamburg merchant Westphal, whose asthma had been improved by Gröning, Gröning goes to Hamburg. He hopes to be able to continue his healing activity there. However, this also proves to be impossible in Hamburg.

June 29, 1949
Gröning leaves Hamburg for an unknown destination. He is accompanied by Hülsmann and his wife. The public and the police lose trace of him.

Caption:
Sick people who had been treated by Gröning, whom Dr. Fischer visited before he met with Gröning himself.

1. Mr. Klüglich in Bielefeld, with renal disease, who lived in continual fear of an operation. Our report describes the condition he was in when the Revue's representative, Prof. Fischer, met him weeks after Gröning's treatment.
2. The little daughter of the Mendt family of Hamburg proved to Prof. Fischer that the Gröning effect must be utilized by medicine. Gröning had successfully influenced spinal poliomyelitis in a psychotherapeutic way.
3. Mrs. Wehmayer. When Prof. Fischer visited her and heard of her hospital stays, he was very impressed with Gröning's distance effect and the experience related by her husband (see the report).
4. Miss Schwerdt related the encounter with Gröning described in the report, to Prof. Fischer, about how he had led her back to the man she loved with the help of the tin foil ball, l and how he healed both of them.
5. Mrs. W., who runs bicycle shop in Bielefeld of her husband, who died in 1946. Prof. Fischer spoke with the doctor who had carried out the protracted and seemimngly hopeless treatment before Gröning.
6. The down-to-earth businessman Kargesmeier in Bad Oeynhausen, for whom no operation could stop the excruciating pain caused by trigeminal neuralgia. After Gröning's treatment, Professor Fischer found him to be healed.
7. Dr. Morters, who treated the patient before Gröning's influence, sits at the bedside of Mrs. E. This case also caused the Revue to convince the physicians of a university clinic of the necessity of a clinical test, about which the Revue reports in the next issue.

The Night of the Great Healings

"The Night of the Great Healings"

"Zeitungsblitz", Sept. 1949: Special Edition on Gröning´s Successes

In the following lines, we bring you an objective report of the facts from our special correspondent, who, as a representative of the press, was able to stay on the heels of the great healer, Bruno Gröning, for 15 hours during the healing efforts witnessed by many hundreds of people at the Traberhof on August 27 and 28.

The first healings of the day

Our correspondent reports: The morning already brought the many seekers of healing, who at noon called out in chorus for "their Gröning". They had the good fortune that he addressed those waiting in a short speech. But I don’t want to report about that, but rather about the unprecedented and unforgettable hours of the late afternoon and evening.

Somehow the air is especially laden with suspense, and for some reason or other, many suffering and curious people have come together today, Saturday, in front of the Traberhof and in the garden, and this suspense grows from hour to hour after it becomes known that Mr. Gröning will speak again this evening to those waiting. Film equipment is already being set up on balcony, terrace and parking lot, and more and more people flock in.

Meanwhile, I inquire about the most recent healing successes and feel obliged to give a sober report, free of sensationalism, to the reader and the circle of people around Gröning.

Mrs. Würstl of Rosenheim, Münchnerstr. 42, reports to me credibly that until noon today she could neither bend over nor lift her feet from the floor because of paralysis. Beaming with happiness after Gröning´s speech, she had walked toward her husband for the first time without help from others, and can bend again like all healthy people.

Then, just like Mr. Haas from Munich, a woman from Endorf whom we had only ever known recumbent, gets up out of her wheelchair and makes her first attempts at walking.

I sit down at the table of an acquaintance, whose wife is the film actress Karin Lembeck, from Munich-Laim, a striking brunette known to all the "regulars." She tells me of her healing from a nerve paralysis of her left arm lasting many months by Gröning through remote healing over the telephone one morning at 10 o’clock. From the moment of his arrival at the Traberhof, Gröning’s "circle of radiation" becomes suddenly and so abruptly effective, that Mrs. L. is overcome with hot and cold shivers that cause her to cry out: "For heaven’s sake, what has happened to my arm? I can’t feel it any more!" And with the same "missing" and paralyzed arm which she had not even been able to move to table height before, she reaches automatically to her face and, a few moments later, up and over her very large summer hat. Then she breaks into tears of joy and gratitude out of inner emotion, tears that have to make up for lack of words. Only hours later is it possible for her to shake hands with an overflowing and grateful heart, but the great helper Mr. Gröning stops her humbly, saying, "You owe thanks not to me, but rather to the Creator above, who gave me the power this morning when I was on the telephone with your husband to initiate this healing, which God completed on your arrival here without my doing anything. Your belief has helped you, dear madam!".

A second lady, Mrs. Wagner from Munich-Laim, from the same district as Mrs. Lembeck, had been suffering for four years from a brain embolism with left-sided nerve paralysis, which had improved in the meantime. She is "focused on from a distance" in the garden by Gröning, who works with her from the rooms above. We follow the effects intently, but with all the surrounding hustle and bustle, the lady cannot muster the necessary concentration. For the same reason, a later attempt that night, face to face with the master brings no satisfactory result, since the inner readiness, the concentration of the senses and the additional meeting only a few hours after the distance treatment, was very obstructive.

Here, as in two further cases, striking evidence was produced that her additional admittance into Mr. Gröning’s private quarters – on the assumption that the telepathic treatment had not been effective - was a sign of mistrust toward the great healer.

And now the time has come. Many hundreds of people stand closely packed together. It is 7:30PM. The evening shadows spread. The horses have long since disappeared from the paddocks, and the sun gilds our magnificent blue mountains. The suspense becomes greater and greater; it becomes unbearable. Then Gröning steps for a moment onto the balcony, accompanied by shouts of joy, and asks for a few minutes’ patience to allow him to tune in silently to the many people, whom he is also asking to concentrate. Mr. S., from his group of assistants, directs the sick toward the front into the field of vision, gives quiet instructions on what they should do, hands flat on the knees, no physical contact with others, thoughts turned away from the sickness – that is the advice. Just this suspense-filled, silent expectation, this inner, spiritual preparation for the moment when Gröning’s healing power takes effect, is what brings the greatest possible healing success. There is hardly a whisper in the crowd of people. It is impossible to describe the situation and the mood, the stirring, faith-filled atmosphere in which these poor, tormented people, with all their visible and invisible ailments, wait, more or less firm in faith, for the moment of their healing.

Meanwhile, 15 minutes have been taken up by preparations for the shooting of a documentary film – minutes which one feels will only be experienced once in a lifetime, so full of energy-filled expectation that one can hear his own heartbeat and that of his neighbor as well. Now and again, an assistant of Gröning asks individual persons where they are from. Locations from all parts and zones of Germany are represented – from the Allgäu and the Swabian area, from Cologne and Frankfurt, from Upper and Lower Bavaria, from Lake Constance and the North Sea – yes, even from Berlin, and then, naturally, many locals. Later on, it gave Mr. Gröning a special, personal pleasure when an old fellow-soldier present among those who were waiting came up to the one who had had to share with him the hard lot of Russian imprisonment in Karelia and Finland. The crowd is asked again to not ask Mr. Gröning any questions, and to focus completely on what Gröning will say.

Gröning speaks to those waiting

It is now dusk. The film lights flare up on all sides, and the film equipment starts to get under way softly. All other sounds cease, and all eyes are directed to the balcony, onto which Mr. Gröning steps along with his host, assistants and healed persons at 8:15 PM. Minutes of very deep silence follow, during which the great helper of humanity folds his hands and looks toward heaven. Then he establishes complete contact with his faithful seekers of healing by looking into each of their excited faces.

Gröning begins now to speak simple, measured words of deep faith with that warm, sympathetic voice that is capable of captivating so many.

"My dear seekers of healing! Just as people are gathering here every day, today, as well, poor and tormented people who seek healing are gathering and will also find it. But there are also people who have been driven here out of pure curiosity, individuals who know themselves that they are skeptics. I feel that with great certainty, and I ask you to please cover up your thoughts and let yourselves be convinced by the facts. It is not a matter of entertainment and cheap demonstrations of miracles – this hour is too serious for that, and the suffering of the people around me too great.

I have called no one here; on the contrary, I have asked them to wait until the day when they can receive help under orderly circumstances. He who doesn’t believe in me doesn’t need to come any more!

I know that many among you are on the way to a healing in this moment! I intend to remain here in Upper Bavaria and ask you to have patience until I receive the permission for public healing and the healing centers are set up. But only those who carry within themselves the divine faith have a right to healing. Unfortunately, there are people who lost this years ago, or have dragged it through the mire.

I say unto you, the only doctor, the doctor of all people is, and remains, our Lord God! He alone can help. But he only helps believers who are willing to throw off their old ailment. You don’t have to believe in the little Gröning, but you must have trust in me. I do not want your gratitude – it belongs to God alone; I am only doing my duty!

Since you do not know, I say unto you that you can leave fear and money at home, but you must always bring your illness and much time with you – of which I then rob you. You should all be humane with one another – not hateful, not false. Never treat anyone badly, never be envious. The best and greatest gift in this life on earth is not riches, not money, but health, which is worth more than all the possessions on earth. You have heard from my assistant what you should do in order to experience the greatest possible effect. I do not want to carry out a public healing here! I must first know for certain that I am allowed to help publicly. However, up until now it has always been the case that people in my proximity have already regained their health. They do not have to specify their illnesses – I see through them and know everything about them.”

Mr. Gröning now gives a few simple examples of the power of his influence, which are confirmed by shouting, and then he continues: “Everyone has now received what he wanted; but only he who felt connected to his Lord God. If everything goes well, I want to set up several healing centers with this place as the nucleus, in close cooperation with the doctors, in order to help all of you. To all of you who have come to me for your sick relatives, I want to say, ‘I am already with them!' When you go home, you will see that the sick person is no longer exactly the same as when you left him!" The selfless man is thanked for his words with a long applause.

Two government representatives for Gröning

Then, entirely unexpectedly, the Chief Constable of Munich, Mr. Pitzer, spontaneously stepped up from the background. "My dear people of Rosenheim! I speak to you from my own personal experience here today. I have come here primarily as a sick person, but also as Bavarian official and observer. I have never in my life received such an outstanding diagnosis – not even from the most famous professors - as I did here from Mr. Gröning in the space of a few moments, without him even touching my body. I myself firmly believe in my healing, and I bear the responsibility for what happens here up to the highest government agencies, whether it suits certain gentlemen – you already know whom I mean – or not. The crucial thing is for the sick to be helped. I have been on duty day and night for four years, and in the process have acquired a severe ailment, for whose healing I have already sacrificed half a fortune, in vain. I speak for myself and for all of you – and it should be heard everywhere, because I must stay healthy for all upright people. I thank you, Mr. Gröning, for your help. May the Lord God grant you the power to help all the many people who come to you with firm belief and open hearts.

To overcome the final difficulties, continue having total trust in Gröning’s healing ability and help, all of you. My friend in the State Parliament will see to it that one day, perhaps even soon, Mr. Gröning will receive the license to heal."

At this point, Mr. Hagn, representative of the State Parliament for the CSU, spoke. "I really didn’t want to speak, because I was very skeptical in the matter of Mr. Gröning and wanted to convince myself personally of what happens here. Today I have experienced such moving things that I don’t have the words to describe them. That is all I can say to you. I ask you all to believe in the calling of Mr. Gröning!" Uproarious applause again surged forth from the excited crowd.

---

 

The night healings at the Traberhof

Now Gröning himself addressed several severe and pitiable cases of paralysis from the balcony.

Mrs. Monika Baumgartner of Bad Aibling, who had waited for days at the Traberhof, and who three years before had suffered a spinal injury with complete lesion of the entire lower body in a fall from the Watzmann mountain, struggles with great effort and tremendous perspiration to stand again – if only for a short time – for the first time in years. Now, Gröning asks other invalids with paralyzed and stiff limbs to move or bend them. Only with effort can I push through to the pitifully disabled Mr. Georg Aigner, of Rosenheim-Thallerbräu, who, beaming with joy, doggedly demonstrates for me with loud crackling, how he can bend his dried-out joints and proudly puts his left ankle on his right knee and vice-versa. That was the second case for the skeptics, and all present were able to convince themselves. Finally, a baker from Bad Aibling got rid of shellshock that had lasted for years in but a few minutes, with the exception of a few residual traces, which Gröning promises to remove in a few weeks.

Now Gröning speaks again to the astonished crowd, “If an improvement has taken place with your acquaintances and relatives at home, inform me here as soon as possible with today’s date as the reference date, so that I will know how many healings were accomplished today. I wish you all a really good night and complete recovery, in the name of God."

Then the great healer went back with his assistants into the living quarters in order to further successfully prove his healing ability on cases which had been brought to him ceaselessly by doctors and the press from early morning on.

Since until now I had exclusively stayed near the sick in order to have the closest contact with them, I was now able – at the invitation of the Hawart family – to be directly present at the treatment of the most severe cases. I entered the private quarters through the long queue of those waiting in the anteroom. In spite of all my objectivity, I could not help perceiving, already upon entering, a certain aura. Then Mr. Gröning came up to me and shook my hand firmly. For a moment I had the feeling as if his strong, but extremely friendly gaze would go through me. His first words to me testified to the great disappointment he had already experienced with the press.

During a few interesting treatments of infantile paralysis with visible success, a circle is formed around midnight in the exotically furnished winter garden. Under the beams of four klieg lights, 24 persons come together, among them a doctor attending two patients, Dr. Meyer from the hospital for the disabled in Bad Tölz, as well as a lady doctor, a medical student and the people accompanying those who could not walk. The rain ceaselessly beats a continuous rhythm on the glass roof, and three film technicians fix their cameras on on the patients. Each individual case is filmed before, during, and after the treatment for a documentary film for the enlightenment of the masses. As always, Gröning prepares himself for the treatment in the adjacent room. His assistant, Mr. Schmidt, appears and also asks those present here to concentrate both inwardly and outwardly on the upcoming healing attempts. Then he makes the amazing announcement, probably as Gröning’s medium, that among those present there is a gentleman who should either inwardly change his unwarranted skepticism or leave the room – in order not to disrupt the psychic connections with the seekers of healing. No one, however, leaves the room.

Then Gröning appears in the doorway and asks those present to concentrate only on what is happening in each individual body. Gröning steps into the circle and busies himself intensively with Mrs. Baumgärtner from Bad Aibling, who is personally introduced to him again up here. Expectant silence sets in. The pieces of film equipment take turns humming. Suddenly Gröning turns around and asks the patient under discussion, "And what do you feel now?" Usually the answer is a tingling in the feet, a twinge in the calves, a piercing pain in area of the kidney or bladder, a violent rumbling in the bowels, or a pressure in the pit of the stomach – or a violent shaking of the entire body manifests itself for all to see. The treatment symptoms reveal themselves like this or in a similar manner with almost all of the patients. Now the master fixes his gaze on the exact spot - to the centimeter - which has brought about the paralysis. He asks Mrs. B. to take three deep breaths. Then the patient suddenly cries out, “It’s gone through!” Facing away from the patient and not visible to her, Mr. Gröning demonstrates to the doctors with an amazing sign language how one can sever a particular nerve and sew it together again without an operation, during which time the patient feels all the pain of this operation. As the treatment progresses, the patient feels “light,” hardly senses her body any more, and manifests increasingly euphoric sensations; unsteadily, she lifts her left arm, supports herself on the backs of chairs and makes her second attempt at standing up. “She will walk again before long!” is Gröning’s prognosis.

Treatment of difficult cases

Evelyn Gschwind from Munich, an eight-year-old girl who was almost totally blind for years had severe damage of the cornea and had already had five operations. After several treatments on the same day without glasses she already sees more than she has ever seen – for example, the passing train at a distance of 500 metres. Gröning has little Evelyn take away the blur before her left eye by putting her left hand over her eye socket, and then on his command taking it away, after which she can, relieved, describe every detail of the room.

Now Gröning requests that three gentlemen who were accompanying patients be brought forth and asked to step onto the balcony, since they are distracting their wards. Now he distributes little foil balls which he rolled himself from cigarette packets and which apparently contain a repository of magnetic force. They are in such demand that they are already sold on the black market in Munich and are, of course, fakes. These “power carriers” are supposed to bring about contact between patients and Gröning over spatial distance and facilitate the concentration absolutely necessary for remote treatments.

Meanwhile, day begins to break in the East, and the master still shows no signs of fatigue. He obviously transfers his stamina to his visitors, for no one among them wants to leave the “place of miracles”, either. The concept of “sleep” is a foreign word for Gröning. A quick movement of his hand from his forehead over his distinctive cranium to the back of his head takes away the slightest sign of fatigue. However, the cigarettes glow incessantly in his hand, and his nourishment consists only of small portions.

Then the man who is in continual demand is brought to a very severe case in the back yard, where 35-year-old Mr. Fischhaber from Bad Tölz has already waited for him for days as his last hope. As a result of bobsled and motorcycle accidents, Mr. F. incurred paralysis of parts of his body which has continually worsened since May, 1949. Three medical opinions from prominent Munich professors vary, from petrol gas poisoning, spinal injury, and tumors of the main nerve trunk to – the latest finding of the doctor who brought him to Gröning today – injury of the interbrain. Two months ago, Mr. Fischhaber had already sought out Gröning in Herford, where he promised him healing. While the kidney disease caused by many years of drug treatment completely disappeared after the Herford visit, a partial success with the other symptoms of illness failed to occur. Gröning already prepared for this morning’s consultation during the evening hours through a remote treatment via an assistant, at which time Mr. Fischhaber could feel an intense tingling in his left hand, as well as feelings similar to sore muscles in his left calf and the front of his foot.

Mr. Gröning gives a downright sensational, "clairvoyant" reason for the previous absence of an obvious healing or improvement, and says literally: “Beware of a married couple with whom you are friends, and who are not well-disposed toward you. The woman has black hair, the man is dark blond with a part, and is about 1.70 m. tall. This man will – if you want to know exactly – step into your house two days after your return from here, at six o’clock in the evening. You will recognize him by the fact that, before closing the door, he will clean his nose with a white handkerchief. This man has been preventing your healing through me up until today, since he has already spoken disparagingly about it in public. This person stands between you and me and cuts off the necessary contact. Avoid this man, and you will be healed in a short time.”

The healer’s final words, which he offered me on the way home, and which indicate the path of his future work, were, “I want to heal my patients in a few minutes with the following words: GOOD DAY! YOU WERE ILL! GOODBYE!”

A. Stecher

Note from the Editor:

That is the report of our correspondent, which we reproduce without comment. Based on these factual descriptions, our readers can now form their own opinion about Mr. Gröning’s “healing art” and about whether it is necessary for the responsible state ministry to immediately grant him permission to act as “doctor of natural healing.”

Since Gröning intends to continue staying at the Traberhof near Rosenheim for the time being, we will issue further "special editions" at the appropriate time.

It is not possible for us to in any way forward letters or other communication to Mr. Gröning. Of course, those interested may direct letters (without photos) or other messages to his address: Mr. Bruno Gröning, Traberhof, Rosenheim-Land. Other addresses that may be circulating on the black market are false. Mr. Gröning asks that you refrain from personal visits until he is officially licensed.

"Bruno Gröning - His Word Bans Illness"

Documentary report "Das Neue Blatt" magazine, May 9, 1957

Report by Dr. Horst Mann

It must be made perfectly clear from the start: this has nothing to do with the person Bruno Gröning. The magazine Das Neue Blatt does not want to join the chorus of those who effusively praise him as a healer or accuse him of being a charlatan. Our task was to investigate Bruno Gröning’s healings critically and incorruptibly, guided by the honest attempt to finally find the truth - because all suffering people are entitled to this truth.

Das Neue Blatt thus opens an exciting chapter in our time. These are the facts:

1. For more than ten years, Bruno Gröning has achieved verifiable healings. The number can’t be estimated. It runs into the thousands.
2. This man appeared in court several times because of his method. They had to acquit him. He is now confidently awaiting a new and very controversial court case.
3. There are Gröning associations all over Germany. Their members view this man - who gave them not only healing, but also spiritual support - with complete respect.

Das Neue Blatt talked with these people. We critically investigated the healing successes. We questioned physicians and scientists, and we spoke with Bruno Gröning himself. He voluntarily made material available to us that had not previously been available to anybody.

The following took place on November 27, 1953, in the small village of Ostenfeld, 14 kilometers east of Husum. An oppressive tension was in the room at the village inn. Like an iron clamp, s it gripped the hearts of the people sitting closely packed on benches and rows of chairs. There may have been a hundred, perhaps a hundred and fifty.

They had come from Ostenfeld and from the neighboring villages between Rendsburg, Schleswig, Husum and Kappeln. Word spread quickly: Bruno Gröning has arrived! He is said to have once again healed sick people. Perhaps he could help me too, or the father with gout, or the child who was so frail and at whom the doctor only shrugged his shoulders. These might have been the thoughts of the people who had assembled here tonight.

The dim light had trouble permeating the room. It showed faces full of expectation and belief. But it also reflected the eyes of skeptical and curious people. They did not expect anything special. They only wanted to be present so they could take part in conversation in those long winter evenings of the year 1954. Nothing much was happening here in these villages. The conversations were always about the same topics: weather, harvest, cattle and – illness. Yes, after all, everybody could become ill – perhaps Bruno Gröning might show a way out.

The murmuring of voices broke against the ceiling of the overcrowded room and pushed the haze of smoke apart. Some had clasped hands, as if praying. Others were cracking jokes to release their inner tension. Others took care of their sick relatives.

Only in the last row was it very silent. Here was a seriously sick person, who had been carried in. Pain tormented him so mercilessly that he was not even able to sit. Blankets had been placed on the floor as a bed for him. People knew him. He was the farmer Thies Paasch from Norby. They also knew his cruel fate, the pains which held him prisoner and sometimes forced him to stay in bed for weeks.

Suddenly the murmuring stopped. Bruno Gröning entered the hall. At just under 170 centimeters, he appeared small, almost fragile, as he walked with quick steps towards a low platform. His clothes were as people recognized them from many photos. All that was remarkable were his massive head with the mop of curled hair and the big shining eyes, which were really burning in his lean and pale face.

And then everything was different than expected for those who had come out of curiosity or sheer sensationalism. "My dear friends!" Gröning addressed the assembly. And this voice was soft and melodic, without drama or emotion. And the voice did not speak about the healings and the miracles which had been achieved by its owner. Nor did the voice commend or praise him as the Messiah risen again to save the despairing people. Gröning spoke about belief and its power. He spoke using simple words, which were understood, taken in and assimilated by everybody. He spoke in a figurative way and drew comparisons, but did not paint in loud colors and events.

He might have been talking for almost an hour. Nobody was watching the clock or went unaddressed. Then he turned to the individual listeners. "Did you feel something?" he asked. The answers came quietly, hesitantly or joyfully and in the affirmative. Some held tin foil balls in their cramped hands. The balls had been handed out before, and the people reported a peculiar feeling of warmth. Others spoke of a shaking or of painful jerks. Some others only shook their heads.

Some wanted to speak about their medical history. But the man in the dark silk shirt and the large necktie was not always an attentive listener. Sometimes he interrupted them, almost brusquely: "I do not treat illnesses! Illness is disorder. Get into order with yourself and God and healing won't fail to appear. Speak to us about something good. Feel comfortable here in this circle!"

Bruno Gröning went from table to table, from chair to chair. Then he turned away. A call from the last row stopped him in his tracks. "Mr. Gröning, you have forgotten somebody." That was Owschlag, the mayor and district administrator of the municipality, who had risen up now and was pointing to Thies Paasch, who was lying on the floor behind him.

Gröning approached the sick man, bent down and asked the question he had also asked the other listeners: “Did you feel something during the meeting?” The man who had been forced by his pain to lie on the floor, nodded his head. “Yes”, he then said. “I suddenly felt very hot. Only half my left leg remained ice-cold. And after that, there was a tingling in my right hand.” Gröning nodded. Nothing more. No movements, no consolation, no hints. With rapid steps, he crossed the hall.

Then somebody in the midst of the spectators shouted, “We thank Mr. Gröning by standing up from our seats!” Chair legs were scraping; tables were being moved. And then the unbelievable happened. Thies Paasch rose. He got up like all the other healthy persons. Suddenly his face was as if freed. He refused the help of his neighbors with both hands. He wanted to do it on his own. And he made it, without any difficulties, any effort and without any pain.

He stood upright and looked laughingly, almost triumphantly, at the concerned faces of the people around him. Then he walked towards the bar with sure steps. “A brandy, landlord,” he ordered. He almost screamed in a voice filled with shock, hope, jubilation: “A brandy, landlord!”

Norby, 18th of April, 1957

In front of me I have a folder full of thank you letters to Bruno Gröning. It contains 58 medical reports from people who all regarded this man as their healer and savior from serious diseases. They came from a small district, from Ostenfeld and the neighboring villages. The reports cover the time between Winter, 1953 and Spring, 1954. They have been written by farmers, housewives, drivers, bricklayers and other craftsmen. They also tell of wonderful healings of children.

My intellect does not want to believe what my eyes read. It is simply unbelievable. The people specify their diseases; they report of heart and blood circulation defects, rheumatism, varicose veins, open wounds, headaches, skin rashes, thrombosis, inflammation of the hip joints, obesity, paralysis, skin lesions, damaged discs, complaints of the gall bladder and tuberculosis. A cruel list of illnesses – all supposedly healed by Bruno Gröning.

I hesitate. The name Thies Paasch catches my eye, that man who suddenly got up and felt healed almost three years ago after a lecture by Bruno Gröning. I read, "Starting in 1944, for ten years I had suffered from terrible neuralgia and rheumatism, which appeared during the war in East Prussia. Several physicians, non-medical practitioners and treatments with herbal teas had been tried, but everything brought only temporary relief, not healing. Last autumn, the pain became so bad that I was not able to move any more. The doctor diagnosed damage of the discs and an inflammation of the sciatic nerve. After four weeks of lying with no relief, I made up my mind to go to Ostenfeld on the November 27, where Bruno Gröning himself was present at that time. I lay on the floor for two hours, because I was neither able to walk nor to sit. When Mr. Gröning entered the room, I felt relief at once. And when Mr. Gröning ended his speech in front of the crowd of about 200 persons, I also stood up by myself and left the room without a stick. Miraculously, I am absolutely healthy and can go about my work. My sincere thanks to Mr. Gröning, through whom I received complete health once more. Thies Paasch, Norby"

What happened to this man? Has this spontaneous healing really proved permanent? Is it, in fact, a miraculous healing, or was the source of pain only dried up by the power of the moment, the belief suddenly ignited by Bruno Gröning, only to reappear again and perhaps even more severely?

A few hours later, I am sitting face to face with him in the parlor of a farmhouse in Norby. A fresh, cheerful man, he could just as well be 40 as 50 years old. He has just returned from Husum by train and bicycle, where he had completed a driving course.

He speaks frankly. His first statement already negates my question as to whether the healing has endured. "I am grateful to Mr. Gröning from the bottom of my heart. It is due to him that I enjoy doing my work again and that I am healthy."

Thies Paasch has every reason to feel this. When he once more told of his period of suffering, I realized the seriousness of his illness. He had left no stone unturned at that time after his first collapse during the war. But the rheumatism had been worsening. His spine had become bowed.

"At that time I did not see a way out," Thies Paasch remarked. "I had to face too many painful setbacks. When the name Bruno Gröning had been mentioned then, I knew and felt, ‘Only he will be able to save me!’ I believed this as I was being carried into the car to go to Ostenfeld and while suppressing my pains."

"Have you been to see the doctor again?" I asked the tanned farmer, who meanwhile energetically goes about his hard work again. Thies Paasch started laughing. He countered with a question: “Why should I do that? I just feel healthy, absolutely healthy!”

Nevertheless, I later on asked a doctor who had been treating him with injections for a longer period of time. “That is right,” he said. “Mr. Paasch had been ill. Among other things, he’d had neuralgia. He needed a powerful stimulus in order to be healed. Gröning might have given it to him.”

My curiosity was awakened. Was this an exceptional case, a unique success? I went to see other patients- and experienced new surprises. I will report about this next week.