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ARTÍCULO

Pharmacists
in
German
Cultural
History

Christoph
Friedrich*

Institut
für
Geschichte
der
Pharmazie,
Roter
Graben
10,
D-­-
35032
Marburg

*e-­-mail:
ch.friedrich@staff.uni-­-marburg.de

Recibido
el
8
de
octubre
de
2014
An.
Real
Acad.
Farm.
Vol.
80,
Nº
3
(2014),
pag.600-­-613

ABSTRACT

This
paper
offers
an
overview
on
famous
pharmacists
who
became
well-­-known
as

poets
or
novelists,
performing
artists
or
musicians.
In
the
18th
and
19th
centuries,

we
find
pharmacists
as
writers
of
natural-­-scientific
works,
but
also
of
poetry
and

literature,
such
as
Johann
Bartholomäus
Trommsdorff
(1770–1837),
who
also

wrote
fairy
tales.
Other
pharmacists
published
autobiographies
and
travelogues.

Among
the
poets
coming
from
a
pharmacist
background
is
Ludwig
Bechstein

(1801–1860),
who
set
his
mark
on
literature
history
by
writing
fairy
tales,
poems,

historical
novels
and
travelogues.
A
writer
of
world
ranking
was
Theodor
Fontane

(1819–1898),
son
of
a
pharmacist,
who
started
his
pharmaceutical
education
in

Berlin.
In
his
autobiographical
works
as
well
as
in
his
novel
“Effi
Briest”,
he
also

writes
about
pharmacists.
Another
one
of
his
novels,
“‘All
Kinds
of
Luck’”,
in
which

a
pharmacist
is
the
protagonist,
remained
fragmentary.
Among
the
poets
who

came
from
a
pharmaceutical
background
is
also
the
dramatist
and
novelist

Hermann
Sudermann
(1857–1928),
whose
“Lithuanian
Stories”
and
his
novel

“Lady
Sorrow”
are
read
in
Germany
even
today.
In
his
autobiography
he
recounts

his
education
in
a
pharmacy.
The
expressionist
lyricist
Georg
Trakl
(1887–1914)

was
also
a
pharmacist,
he
studied
pharmacy
in
Vienna
and
worked
as
a
military

pharmacist.
At
the
beginning
of
the
First
World
War,
he
committed
suicide.
Along

with
pharmacists
who
painted
the
illustrations
for
their
scientific
works

themselves,
Carl
Spitzweg
(1808–1885)
and
Behrend
Goos
(1815–1885)
became

the
most
famous
representatives.
But
also
on
the
musical
field
some
pharmacists

became
known
such
as
Eduard
Lucerna
(1869–1944),
who
wrote
an
opera,
ten

symphonies,
chamber
music
and
songs.
Heinz
Höhne
(1892–1968)
composed
the

song
“High
on
the
Yellow
Chariot”
which
became
one
of
the
most
popular
songs
in

Germany.
Finally,
there
are
also
some
famous
singers
coming
from
the
pharmacist

profession.
Thus,
pharmacists
marked
the
cultural
life
in
Germany
to
some
extent.

Keywords:
pharmacists;
cultural
life;
German
history.

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