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Pharmacists
in
German
Cultural
History

Cosel
(1680–1765)
and
alchemist
Count

Alessandro
Cagliostro
(1743–1795).

Nevertheless,
such
poetic
works
must
be

considered
by-­-products
of
writing

pharmacists
–
their
main
focus
was
on

natural
scientific
works
and
on
editing

journals
(3).

WRITING
PHARMACISTS
IN
THE
LATE

19TH
AND
THE
20TH
CENTURY

After
1860,
experimental

chemical
research
shifted
from

pharmacies
to
university
laboratories.

Figure
1.-­-
Ludwig
Bechstein.
The
methodological
and
instrumental

boom
of
chemistry
and
the
plenty

fullness
of
specialist
literature
contributed
to
the
effect
that
scientifically

interested
pharmacists
became
more
passive
in
the
field
of
chemistry.
They

transferred
their
activities
to
descriptive
sciences
like
botany
and
zoology
or
they

occupied
themselves
as
gatherers.
Within
these
domains
numerous
books
were

composed
depicting
native
wildlife.
Pharmacists
remained
perceptible
specialist

writers
in
the
late
19th
century
(4).

Aside,
many
pharmacists
chose
their
profession
rather
for
pragmatic

reasons.
At
that
time
the
period
of
training
was
short
and
enabled
young
men
to

earn
their
living.
This
fact
and
the
increasing
esteem
of
the
profession
attracted

people
who
wanted
to
be
promoted
in
the
19th
century.
Children
of
poorer
families

chose
this
particular
profession
because
it
would
allow
for
advancement
to

become
a
pharmacy
owner,
often
by
marriage,
a
natural
scientist
or
a
factory

owner
(5).
Some
became
pharmacists
despite
their
artistic
talent
in
order
to
earn

their
living
alongside
with
their
artistic
activity;
they
attempted
to
produce

artworks
that
would
enable
them
to
dedicate
themselves
to
their
work
as
an
artist

or
writer.

The
poet
Ludwig
Bechstein
(1801–1860)
(Figure
1)
belongs
to
this
latter

category.
In
his
autobiography,
he
confesses
to
have
been
a
poor
child,
neglecting

his
illegitimate
descent.
He
was
adopted
and
brought
up
by
his
uncle
Johann

Matthäus
Bechstein
(1757–1822),
the
writer
of
a
few
natural
scientific
works
who

tried
to
inspire
his
nephew.
Because
Ludwig
Bechstein
was
no
successful
pupil
at

school,
he
started
his
apprenticeship
as
a
pharmacist
in
Arnstadt,
Thuringia

(Figures
2,
3),
in
1818
(6).
He
soon
recognized
that
he
had
little
enthusiasm
for

pharmaceutical
operations
–
“to
make
capsules
and
signatures,
to
line
boxes,
to
cut

teas
and
roots,
to
refill
empty
glasses
or
tins
and
to
sell
drugs”
(7)
–
this
occupation

603