New ways and opposing forces

Businessmen around Groening

One of these offers was made to him by the businessman Otto Meckelburg. Out of gratitude for the healing of his wife he wanted to help Groening and put to him concrete plans for the production of Healing Centers. Bruno Groening went along with this and Meckelburg became his "Manager". At the end of December 1949 they both went to Wangerooge. Here Groening spoke at events organised by Meckelburg and worked innumerable healings. He gave the one-time prison camp commander his complete trust. In a certified statement made on 8th January 1950 in Wangerooge he laid the future plans for his work entirely in Meckelburg's hands:

"Mr Groening declared his agreement to the plans from Mr Meckelburg and commited to provide himself fully for the purpose of reaching this end, that is, to give Meckelburg all necessary support, and to do everything in his power in relation to the founding of a society and for the society itself in its subsequent activities, and anything which could be of service to these purposes.

Mr. Groening took on this responsibility not only in the presence of Mr Meckelburg personally but also in the presence of those involved in the founding of the society with the above stated aims.

Furthermore, Mr Groening commited himself not to provide this support for any other person or group. He will confine his activities to the benefit of the society and only in agreement with Mr. Meckelburg.

As early as January Meckelburg founded the "Society for the Research of the Groening method of healing". He himself was managing director, and drew a monthly salary of 1000,- DM. Bruno Groening received nothing. It became evident that Meckelburg was not keeping his promise. In Groening he saw a goldmine, and described him demeaningly as "the best horse in my stable". The sick were of no consequence to him. He had tied Groening to himself with a contract, and the "Miracle Healer" had to do whatever he wanted.

It was not until June 1950 that Groening managed to free himself from Meckelburg, whereupon he swore that he would gain revenge. "I'll reduce Groening to a nothing, I'll break every bone in his body".

Immediately following, Groening worked for several months with the non-medical practitioner Eugen Enderlin from Munich. He had received a healing at the "Traberhof", and offered Groening the opportunity to hold lectures in his practice. But Enderlin also turned out to be wanting to gain a business advantage. He wasn't interested in helping, but wanted to make money out of the "Groening phenomenon." Around the end of the year Groening parted from him, and a further partnership failed 1952/53 for the same reasons.

In the period following Groening held lectures in "Fremdenheim Weikersheim" in Gräfelfing. The journalist Dr. Kurt Trampler took him in and organised the meetings. He knew Groening from autumn 1949. He had been sent to the "Traberhof" to produce a report for a Munich newspaper, and had unexpectedly been cured of a leg complaint. As gratitude he wrote the book " The great revolution" and took up Groening's case with the authorities.

As with Enderlin the lectures in Gräfelfing were well attended. Unbelievable healings took place. But also the connection with Trampler didn't survive. He reached the point where he believed he had learnt enough from Groening, broke off his contact with him and set up independently as a healer.

Swindlers tolerated

Time and again people approached Groening under the premise of wanting to help. Many were, however, merely interested in making profit out of his abilities. He appeared to be an irresistible attraction to such people. When they didn't get what they were after, or he separated himself from them, they tried in many cases to force him into paying them money by means of lengthy legal processes.

For example, Mrs. Hülsmann. After she had established that she couldn't earn anything out of Bruno Groening, she sued via the labour courts. She calculated the time, which she had once offered freely on a voluntary basis, as working hours, and demanded her pay in arrears. Bruno Groening had to pay a monthly sum until his death. This was not the only instance. In this or in similar ways, many of his previous fellow workers showed their real face.

Why did Bruno Groening let these supposed helpers get so close to him? Why didn't he simply avoid contact with such profiteers?

In a lecture on 31st August 1950 he addressed this issue:

"People have not left the making of money from this little man with his knowledge and ability untried. They believed they had found a goldmine. In part they have had the chance to make money, but they haven't, god be thanked, been able to exploit the chance. There has to be also this type of person, and that is in order to identify who the person really is, that he tramples the dead underfoot and doesn't enquire after the sick and whether the sick person will be helped or not. These are people who can trample the dead underfoot, they can calmly look at a sick person lying there. These people have never asked, they have left nothing untried in their attempts to get near to me. I know that here and there the question is raised, hm, when the man knows so much, why didn't he know that, perhaps he knows nothing. Whether and to what extent I know something, you will learn bit by bit. But this has to be. This material was missing for the development required in order to make the way free for you all. "

Grete Häusler described in her book "Here is the truth of and about Bruno Groening" the following event:

"Once, as I was leaving, I wished Herr Groening all the best and said 'Mr Groening, I wish that you are now able to have some peace to work, and aren't latched onto by any false workers' he answered me, to my utter astonishment: 'Completely wrong, this has to be!' I didn't understand this, but he explained to me why he had to put up with all this and endure it. Thereby he revealed a great secret to me:

'I know what a person carries in him. However, if I were to say to people: 'He is a liar, he is a swindler, a thief, no-one would believe me. What must I do? I have to draw these people to me teach them the good, to prompt them to change their ways, and then give them the chance to lie, to cheat and to steal. When they then, despite what they have learnt, do this, then everyone knows them for what they are. Then I let them get really close to me and I am not a coward, then I fight.'"

The first great case

For the first time, 1951/52 Bruno Groening appeared before the court in München charged with exercising healing practices without a permit. Though the bavarian Ministry for Internal Affairs had viewed his activity as a free act of love, now it was being evaluated as the practice of healing in the medical sense. The charge was based on the 'Non Medical Practitioners' Law (Heilpraktikergesetz) of 1939, which had replaced the Freedom of Healers which was in force up until then and which was intended to put all healing practice into the hands of National Socialist (Nazi) doctors. Bruno Groening was pronounced not guilty at the first and the second hearing. The leader of the Munich court stated in his judgement in March 1952:

"The court would not consider it fitting to condemn the accused on the basis of one-sided expert testimony. Because, whether the activities of Groening are covered by the 'Non Medical Practitioners' Law at all is more than doubtful, in that they fall into an area that is today far too little researched."

In the appeal, the not guilty verdict was upheld, but the activities of Groening were clearly defined as healing practice under the confines of the 'Non Medical Practitioners' Law:

"The accused has thereby, without permit and without being a doctor, practised diagnosis, healing or relief of diseases, suffering or physical defects on people, the which activity is viewed as Healing Activity within the meaning of the 'Non Medical Practitioners' Law.(…)

A sentencing of the accused cannot however follow because, in respect of the objective nature of the events concerning the exercise of a healing practice, he made an honest error of judgement, and thereby had not acted premeditatedly."

Because the honest error of judgement, which Bruno Groening supposedly had made, was stated in the judgement, this, despite the not-guilty verdict, was effectively a legal healing ban. From this point in time on Bruno Groening knew, that his activities were the practice of healing within the meaning of the Non Medical Practitioners' Law, and as such were forbidden. The true content of his work, which demonstrates that his means of working had nothing to do with healing practices in the medical sense, were not recognised.

The Groening Pill

Bruno Groening had to find a new way to be able to carry out his work freely. He wanted to work legally and in an ordered way, and to avoid all conflict with the Non Medical Practitioners' Law. He was prepared to take the examination for certifying as a non-medical practitioner, but his application was rejected on very questionable grounds.

A gut opportunity to reach the people despite the obstacles offered itself to him by way of the offer of Rudolf Bachmann to establish a "Biologic-Dynamic Laborotory". Bachmann wanted to produce two biological remedies "G 52" and "L 52" from herbs following an old home recipe, which Bruno Groening should then "address" that is he would imbue them with his healing energy.

Bruno Groening accepted this offer, and the materials were actually made. On 9th June 1953 he reported this event:

"For the production of this healing preparation a laboratory with all modern aids together with a staff of scientific colleagues is available to me. Following my instructions a range of remedies has been produced, the success of which has not been matched by anything up until now. Apart from a large number of doctors, the University clinic of Munich has tested these active ingredients and reported most positively. The Bavarian Ministry of State for Internal Affairs has, on the basis of this, issued a licence for the production of the remedies." The pharmaceutical industry has great interest in the preparations: Foreign factories want to take over the sales, well known firms in the German Federal Republic have stated they are prepared to buy individual recipes. "

Later, he wrote of the laboratory preparations:

"Mr. Rudolf Bachmann made me an offer in 1953 to actively support my work. He himself, Herr Bachman had produced the material, and with it wanted as he put it, to build me a financial basis so that I could have the opportunity to finance my work (to establish healing centers for the sick). In order to discover how the material produced by Bachmann would be judged by medical science, I consulted Dr. med. Höcht from Munich, who assured me, that the material was totally problem free. On the strength of this assurance I agreed to the use of my name for the laboratory, so that it had the title 'Bruno Groening Laboratory'.

Mr Bachmann wanted to distribute these preparations privately, for the simple reason that he did not want to support distributors and dealers (Chemists). I was not in agreement with this idea and required that the preparations should only be supplied to chemists. Mr. Bachmann did not follow my request; he was a very zealous businessman."

Bachmann also revealed himself to be a profiteer, who was only interested in lining his own pockets. He did not have the availability of a well equipped laboratory, and very little positive came out of the whole project for Bruno Groening. On the contrary: When Bachmann died after a short period of time, he left huge debts, which Groening had to settle in his stead. Once again Bruno Groening himself:

"All in all I'd like to briefly state here that I

• For one, never intended to make a business out of this,
• For another, the results have been Zero (Delivery of the preparations), since Mr. Bachmann, through his bad negotiations, has taken me for a ride to the extent that I have had to pay, and still have to pay thousands of D-Marks. Mr. Bachmann used a great deal of money for establishing the laboratory. This was in the form of loans from my friends, which I now have to pay back. Mr. Bachmann died last year, so he can't fulfil his responsibilities in this area any more. Since he left no estate, I am the one literally left carrying the can. "

The Groening Association

In order to reach as many people as possible, despite the healing ban, Bruno Groening had established Local Groups at the beginning of the 1950's. There he simply held lectures and directed all his efforts to imparting his teaching about belief to the help seekers.

On the 22.11.1953 in Murnau/Seehausen he established the umbrella organisation, the "Groening Association". The Association was intended to be entered in the register of clubs and to offer Bruno Groening legal protection for his work. Thus it was intended to avoid any further conflict with the Non Medical Practitioners' Law.

The committee of the Groening Association consisted, among others, of: Graf Zeppelin, Graf Matuschka, Anny Freiin Ebner von Eschenbach, Oberbaurat Hermann Riedinger and Direktor Konstantin Weisser, also to start with, as co-founder Rudolf Bachmann, from whom thou, the Association soon parted company. President for life was Bruno Groening.

Scribe for the Association was the journalist and lecturer Egon Arthur Schmidt from Heidelberg. Even in Herford he was a close aide to the "Miracle Doctor" and had founded the club "Circle of Friends of Bruno Groening". This didn't work according to how Bruno Groening wished, and was disbanded after a short time. Groening distanced himself from Schmidt at that time, because he had misappropriated donations.

1In 1952 Schmidt turned again to Groening and declared that he had recognised the error of his ways. He asked to be allowed to help in the development of the work, and Bruno Groening took him on as a co-worker once again. This offered Schmidt the chance to show whether the well being of the sick really was close to his heart, or whether he was simply interested in his own financial advantage.

In 1955 Bruno Groening parted ways permanently with Schmidt, because he had not changed his attitude. He attempted as previously to capitalise on Groening's capabilities. Like Mrs. Hülsmann before him, he brought several cases against Groening after the separation, in which he claimed payment after the event for his voluntary work.

Konstantin Weisser and Hermann Riedinger jointly took over the role of Managing Director. This appeared to be very promising because they were very experienced, and their training could be used very much to Bruno Groenings advantage. There remained though the danger that they would consider themselves superior to the simple worker, and act against his will, since he wasn't educated to their level .

In time matters did develop in this direction, and it became increasingly difficult for the two men to accept anything that Bruno Groening said to them. They appeared completely to have forgotten, that the association not only carried Groenings name, but also had been brought into existence for him. For them, the Groening Association became more and more an end in itself. His central goal, to help the suffering, they lost view of completely. It appeared that they had lost sight of the fact that it was Groening through whom the healings were made possible, and not the Association.

So the Groening Association developed more and more into the opposite of that which it should have been. For the man whose name it bore, the Association became a prison, which instead of setting him free, inexorably closed him in.