1949 – In the spotlight

Bruno Gröning's work in Herford

Thousands of sick people and those seeking help besiege Gröning

Nine-year-old Dieter Hülsmann had been bedridden for some time. He was suffering from progressive muscular dystrophy, and none of the doctors or professors who had been consulted had been able to help. After Bruno Gröning began working with the boy, he was suddenly able to walk again. Mr Hülsmann, an engineer, astounded by the sudden healing of his son, asked Bruno Gröning to stay. He wanted to invite other sick people ‒ this “miracle man” should help them as well ‒ said Hülsmann.

Bruno Gröning accepted the offer, and from one day to the next, more and more help-seekers arrived. Increasing numbers of people learned of the miraculous events surrounding Gröning. It wasn't long before everyone was talking about him. The newspapers reported about the "Miracle Doctor," and in the British Zone he became the subject of daily conversation. Thousands of people poured into Wilhelmsplatz, and throngs of people besieged the house.

Manfred Lütgenhorst, from a daily newspaper, the Münchner Merkur wrote on June 24, 1949, "When I arrived in Herford at about 10.30 a.m., there were almost one thousand people standing in front of the two-story house in Wilhelmsplatz. It was an indescribable picture of suffering. Countless numbers of people in wheelchairs, others brought there by their relatives, blind, deaf and dumb, mothers with mentally and physically disabled children, old women and young men, were crowded together and groaning. Almost one hundred cars, trucks and busses were parked around the square, and all had come from far away."

Paralysis, ulcers, blindness: “Mr Gröning looked at me, and now I am totally healthy.”

Manfred Lütgenhorst continues, “‘Do you believe you’ll be healed?’ I asked one of the sick people. She nodded. One of the people said to me, ‘You should have been here yesterday. Bruno Gröning was not here, but in Viersen in the Rhineland, and here, in the square, five crippled people stood up and went home healed. Distance healing - the yard healed them.’ The other sick people confirmed what had been said.

I made my way further through the throng and recorded their amazing stories. These alone are enough to fill a book. As I lit a cigarette, a young man near me said, ‘Please, sell me one!’ He was wearing a uniform jacket and looked like a serviceman who had returned from Russia. I gave him a cigarette. He lit it and said boisterously, ‘See, I can do everything myself.’ He moved his right arm, his fingers, and his right leg. ‘Did Bruno Gröning heal you, too?’ I asked him. ‘Yes, my right side was paralyzed in Russia. Bruno Gröning looked at me and now I am totally healthy. I still can't fully grasp it.’ Happily, he swung his limbs.

I headed for a group of people surrounding a white-haired woman of about 40 years of age. ‘Of course,’ I heard the woman say, ‘I have been healed by Bruno Gröning. I had huge stomach ulcers, was getting thinner and thinner and couldn't sleep any more because of the pain. There were twelve of us with Gröning. He looked at me, and it seemed to me as if the ulcers fell like a stone to the ground. Since then, I don't have any pain. I'm putting on weight, and the X-Rays I had done show indisputably that the ulcers have vanished. I put myself at the disposal of the Medical Review Commission. I can tell you, they were astonished!’

The woman continued, ‘But that's not all. Last week there was a blind man here in the square. He waited several days and nights without a break. Because I’m often here, I noticed him. I felt sorry for him, and I invited him for a meal. ‘No,’ he declined, ‘I mustn't miss the moment when Bruno Gröning comes out.’ I brought him some rolls and said to him that I would make sure that someone would take him to the railway station. ‘I don't need anyone, because I will be able to walk to the station alone.’ And then I saw it with my own eyes. Bruno Gröning came, and the young man cried out, ‘I can see again!’ Truly, the veil was wiped from his eyes. He described the handbag I was carrying. He said, ‘There goes a car, and that’s the license plate number,’ and he found his way to the station alone. Everyone who was standing nearby was weeping for joy.’

Healing prohibition by city officials and the medical community

It wasn't long before the authorities also concerned themselves with the events. A board of inquiry was formed, and Bruno Gröning was banned from healing. A few influential doctors were his declared enemies. They used every means at their disposal to prevent his activity and demanded that his healing ability be scientifically tested. The real reason for the healing prohibition, however, is clear from the following statement by influential medical people who were involved. “Gröning can prove whatever he wants, but he will not be given permission to heal.” “It offends the professional honor of the doctors to associate with Gröning.” At the end of June, he had to leave Herford permanently. All efforts to obtain permission to carry out healing had failed.