The Gröning Association
Hoping to be able to work freely through the Association
In order to reach as many people as possible, despite the healing ban, Bruno Gröning had established communities at the beginning of the 1950's. There he simply held lectures and directed all his efforts to imparting his knowledge to help seekers.
Legal protection and renowned management
On November 22, 1953 in Murnau/Seehausen, he established the umbrella organization, the Gröning Association. The Association was intended to be entered in the Register of Associations and to offer Bruno Gröning legal protection for his work. Thus further conflict with the Non-Medical Practitioners Act would be avoided.
The committee of the Gröning Association consisted of, among others, Count Zeppelin, Count Matuschka, Anny Freiin Ebner von Eschenbach, senior engineer Hermann Riedinger and manager Konstantin Weisser, as well as at the beginning, co-founder, Rudolf Bachmann, with whom though, the association soon parted company. Bruno Gröning was President for life.
The secretary’s desire for profit takes precedence over the well-being of the sick
The secretary of 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 association Ring of Friends of Bruno Gröning. It did not function the way Bruno Gröning wished and was disbanded after a short time. Gröning distanced himself from Schmidt at that time, because he had embezzled donations.
In 1952, Schmidt turned again to Gröning and declared that he had recognized the error of his ways. He asked to be allowed to help in the development of the work, and Bruno Gröning took him on as a co-worker once again. This gave Schmidt the chance to show whether the well-being of the sick was really close to his heart, or whether he was simply interested in his own financial advantage.
In 1955, Bruno Gröning permanently parted ways with Schmidt, because the latter had not changed his attitude. He again tried to profit from Gröning's abilities. Schmidt brought several lawsuits against Gröning after the separation. He wanted payment after the fact for his voluntary work.
Who is there for whom – the association for Gröning's work, or Gröning’s work for the association?
Konstantin Weisser and Hermann Riedinger jointly assumed the role of Managing Director. This appeared very promising, because they were very experienced, and their background could be used very much to Bruno Gröning’s 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 as educated as they.
Over time, matters did develop in this direction, and it became increasingly difficult for the two men to accept anything that Bruno Gröning said to them. They appeared completely to have forgotten, that the Association not only carried Gröning’s name, but also had been brought into existence for him. For them, the Gröning Association became more and more an end in itself. They lost sight completely of his central goal: to help the suffering. It appeared that they had lost sight of the fact that the healings were made possible through Gröning, and not through the Association.
So the Gröning Association developed more and more into the opposite of what it should have been. For the man whose name it bore, the Association became a prison, which instead of setting him free, restricted him more and more.
The first court proceedings about the healing prohibition (1951- 1952)
Gröning's work a healing activity in the medical sense?
Indictment for unauthorized practice of medicine
In 1951-52, Bruno Gröning appeared for the first time before the court in Munich, charged with practicing healing 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 Act of 1939, which had replaced the Freedom of Healers Law, which had been in force up until then, and which was intended to put all healing practice into the hands of National Socialist (Nazi) doctors.
The yes and no of violating the Non-Medical Practitioners Act
Bruno Gröning was acquitted at the first and the second hearings. The chairperson of the Munich court stated in his judgment 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 Gröning are covered by the Non-Medical Practitioners Act at all is more than doubtful, because they fall into an area that is today researched far too little.“
In the appeal, the not-guilty verdict was upheld, but Gröning’s activity was clearly defined as healing practice within the confines of the Non-Medical Practitioners Act:
„The accused has thereby, without permit and without being a doctor, practiced diagnosis, healing or relief of diseases, suffering or physical defects on people, which is viewed as healing activity under the Non-Medical Practitioners Act.“
Honest error in judgment means healing prohibition
The judgment continued, “A sentencing of the accused cannot follow, however, because in view of the objective nature of the events concerning the exercise of a healing practice, he made an honest error of judgment and thereby did not act deliberately.”
Because the honest error in judgment, which Bruno Gröning supposedly had made, was stated in the judgment, this effectively amounted to a legal healing prohibition, despite the not-guilty verdict. From this point in time on, Bruno Gröning knew that his activities were considered a healing practice as defined by the Non-Medical Practitioners Act, and as such were forbidden. The true nature of his work, which demonstrates that his means of working had nothing to do with healing practices in the medical sense, was not recognized.
Crooks tolerated
Bruno Gröning gives every person the chance to turn around
Forced payments: assistants show their true colors
Time and again, people approached Gröning under the premise of supporting him. Many were, however, only interested in profiting from 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 instances to force him into paying them money by means of lengthy legal processes.
For example, in March of 1949, Mrs. Hülsmann, together with her husband, out of gratitude for the healing of their son, took Bruno Gröning in as a guest in their home in Herford. After she had determined that she couldn't earn anything off of Bruno Gröning, she sued him in the labor court. She calculated the time she had initially given voluntarily as working hours and demanded payment in arrears. Bruno Gröning had to pay a monthly sum to her until his death. This was not the only instance. In this or similar ways, many of his previous helpers showed their true colors.
„These people are also necessary; to show who the human being is“
Why did Bruno Gröning let these supposed helpers get so close to him? Why didn’t he simply avoid contact with such profiteers? In a lecture on August, 31, 1950, he addressed the issue: “People have not given up trying to make money off this little man with his knowledge and ability. They believed they had found a goldmine. In part, they have had the chance to make money, but they haven't, thank God, been able to exploit the chance. There also has to be this type of person, in order to identify who the person really is, to show that he tramples the dead underfoot and doesn't ask whether the sick person will be helped or not. There are people who can trample the dead underfoot, and 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, ‘Hmm, if 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 gradually find out. But this has to be. This part was missing in the build-up of this work, in order to make the way free for you all.”
"…then everyone knows who they are"
Grete Häusler (1922-2007), a healed, longstanding helper of Bruno Gröning and founder of the "Bruno Gröning Circle of Friends," describes the following incident in her book, Here is the Truth about Bruno Gröning: “Once, as I was leaving, I wished Herr Gröning all the best and said, ‘Mr Gröning, I wish that you will now be able to have some peace to work and won’t approached by any dishonest workers.’ To my utter astonishment, he said, ‘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. In so doing, 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 in order to teach them the good, to prompt them to change their ways, and then give them the chance to lie, to cheat and to steal. If they do this, despite what they have learnt, then everyone will see them for what they are. Then I let them get really close to me and I am not a coward, then I fight.’”
New paths and dead ends
Profiteers around Gröning
A self-appointed Gröning manager with exclusive rights
Out of gratitude for the healing of his wife, the Wangerooge businessman Otto Meckelburg supported Bruno Gröning and laid out concrete plans for the establishment of healing centers. Bruno Gröning went along with this, and Meckelburg became his “manager.”
At the end of December, 1949, they both went to Wangerooge. Here Gröning spoke at events organized by Meckelburg and worked innumerable healings. He gave the man his complete trust. In a certified statement made on 8 January 1950 in Wangerooge, he laid the future plans for his work entirely in Meckelburg's hands.
“Mr. Gröning consented to Mr. Meckelburg’s plan and committed to making himself fully available to achieving this goal, that is, to give Meckelburg all necessary support, and to do everything in his power in relation to the intended founding of an association, and for the association itself in its ensuing activities, and to do everything that could be of service to the aforementioned goals. Mr. Gröning assumes this responsibility towards Mr. Meckelburg personally, and also towards the association with the above mentioned goals, which was in the process of being founded. Furthermore, Mr. Gröning committed to not provide this support for any other person or group. He would conduct his activities only in the context of the association and only with Mr. Meckelburg's consent.”
As early as January, Meckelburg founded the Association for the Investigation of Gröning’s Healing Methods . He himself was Managing Director and drew a monthly salary of 1,000 DM. Bruno Gröning received nothing. It became evident that Meckelburg was not keeping his promise. He saw in Gröning a goldmine and demeaningly described him as ‘the best horse in my stable.’ The sick were of no consequence to him. He had bound Gröning to himself with a contract, and the “Miracle Healer” had to do whatever he, Meckelburg, wanted.
It was not until June, 1950, that Gröning managed to free himself from Meckelburg, whereupon Meckelburg swore that he would gain revenge. “I'll reduce Gröning to nothing; I’ll break every bone in his body.”
A health practioner with lecture offers
Immediately after this, Gröning worked for several months with the natural health practitioner Eugen Enderlin in Munich. He had received a healing at the Traberhof and offered Gröning the opportunity to hold lectures at his practice. But Enderlin also turned out to want to gain a business advantage. He wasn't interested in helping, but wanted to make money off of the “Gröning Phenomenon.” Towards the end of the year Gröning parted from him, and a further partnership in 1952-53 failed for the same reasons.
A Careerist Healer
In the period following this, Gröning held lectures in the Weikersheim boarding house in Graefelfing. The journalist Dr. Kurt Trampler took him in and organized the meetings. He’d known Gröning since the autumn of 1949. He had been sent to the ‘Traberhof” to produce a report for a Munich newspaper and had unexpectedly been healed of a leg complaint. In gratitude, he wrote the book The Great Turnaround and took up Gröning's case with the authorities. As with Enderlin, the lectures in Graefelfing were well attended. Unbelievable healings took place. But the partnership with Trampler didn't survive, either. One day Trampler believed he had learnt enough from Gröning, and he broke away and set up independently as a healer.
The Traberhof ‒ masses of people stream to Rosenheim
Almost 30,000 help-seekers gathered daily before Gröning in September, 1949
After the investigation in Heidelberg concluded, Bruno Gröning went to South Germany in August, 1949. He wanted to get away from the tumult surrounding his name and withdrew to a private estate near Rosenheim. At first he was able to keep his whereabouts a secret. However, once the first newspapers reported about his arrival in Bavaria, the masses started arriving.
Up to 30,000 people a day streamed to the “Traberhof” in Rosenheim. Press, radio and the weekly news program reported on events. Even a film was made, entitled “Gröning,” documenting the events taking place around him.
Biblical Scenes
In the second week of September, the newspaper Zeitungsblitz reported in a special issue: “Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people had gathered together in the blistering heat for hours, all waiting for the moment when Gröning would appear on the balcony to speak to the masses and radiate his healing energy. The crowd stood densely-packed together, in order to get the full benefit of his ‘healing rays.’ The most seriously ill in their wheelchairs and chairs, or those standing alone at the periphery were already beginning to feel the effects. Half-blind people began to see again, previously disabled people stood up, and paralyzed people began to move their stiffened limbs. Hundreds reported increased pain in the parts of their bodies affected by illness. They reported pulling, prickling sensations and tingling, the feeling of an indescribable ‘lightness of being,’ or of headaches suddenly disappearing.”
Not only at the “Traberhof” were there biblical scenes. Wherever Gröning appeared, he was immediately surrounded by innumerable sick people. Anita Höhne described the situation surrounding Gröning in her book Spiritual Healers Today. Pilgrimages started when Gröning merely announced his impending arrival. Scenes, such as the one journalist Rudolf Spitz observed at a visit of Gröning to Munich in September, 1949, were typical:
“At 7 p.m., thousands were standing in Sonnenstrasse (Sun Street.) At 10:30 p.m., they were still there. During five years of war I had experienced a great deal, but nothing as shattering as in those four hours in which I sat across from Bruno Gröning and experienced a shocking parade of misery and suffering. Epileptics, the blind, lame people on crutches pressed towards him. Mothers held their crippled children out to him. There were unconscious people. Cries rang out, desperate calls for help, pleas, wishes, sighs.”
Government officials recognize goodwill
Anita Höhne quotes the journalist Rudolf Spitz further: “The sick on stretchers, the lame, a huge mass of humanity were observed by another journalist from Munich, Dr Kurt Trampler, who was also at the ‘Traberhof’ in Rosenheim, where Gröning was living. Trampler came there as a reporter for the weekly newspaper Münchner Allgemeine - he was a cool headed journalist, who only recorded what he personally saw and heard. “We hear a voice from the balcony, but not Gröning’s, and hurry towards the window. Pitzer, the president of the Munich police force, speaks to the assembled crowd. He reports that sciatica, which had plagued him for years, has improved in Gröning’s presence. Pitzer is definitely not the sort of man given to hypersensitive imaginings, but can bear witness to that which he observed happen to himself. Here he was openly acknowledging Gröning, and the CSU Politician Hagen followed with a similar statement.”
The Bavarian authorities were also positively inclined toward Bruno Gröning. The daily newspaper Münchner Merkur reported on September 7, 1949, under the title “Goodwill toward Gröning,” “Minister President Dr. Ehard stated at a press conference on Monday, that the work of an exceptional occurence, such as Bruno Gröning, must not be allowed to be squandered because of legalities. In his opinion, no serious obstacles stood in the way of granting Gröning permission to work in Bavaria.”
The Bavarian Ministry for Internal Affairs, had, by copy deadline, announced that the initial examination of Gröning’s healing activities had led to the conclusion that they could be regarded as a free act of love, and as such did not require a permit under the Non-Medical Practitioners Act.
From defamation to medical documentation of the healings
At the Traberhof there a great deal of hustle and bustle around Gröning. There were many business people who wanted to capitalize on his abilities. They damaged his reputation and standing, which resulted in the authorities distancing themselves. When the circumstances became intolerable, Gröning retreated to the mountains of Bavaria. He wanted to look into some of the offers to build healing centers. His goal was to create facilities where help seekers could be healed in an organized way. Doctors would carry out pre- and post-healing examinations along the lines of the Heidelberg model, and document the healings that occurred.
The “Gröning Phenomenon” and science
Medical scrutiny in Heidelberg promises written certificate
In this time period in Herford medical specialist contributors of the magazine Revue, began studying Gröning’s healing success. Professor Dr. H.G. Fischer, a psychologist from Marburg, traveled to Herford with a special staff of correspondents. There he held interviews with healed people and had to confirm, much to his own astonishment, that Gröning’s “method” was truly a success. As a result, the Revue, decided to help attain a scientific explanation for the “Gröning Phenomenon.” The “healing method” of the “Miracle Doctor” was to be researched at the University Clinic of Heidelberg.
Bruno Gröning agreed to Fischer's proposals because Fischer promised to give him a positive expert testimonial, should things go well. Gröning hoped that he had found a way to work in freedom.
Healings before the doctor’s eyes - "Bruno Gröning is no charlatan"
The investigations began on July 27. The people on whom he was to prove his skills were selected from the over 80,000 sick people who had written to him for help. In addition, there were several patients from the Ludolf Krehl Clinik in Heidelberg. They were all given thorough examinations, and exact diagnoses were established. They then came to Gröning, who used his ‘method’ on them. Doctors were present the whole time. They were witnesses to the fact that some illnesses spontaneously disappeared. Afterwards, examinations in the clinic confirmed the healings. Even incurable illnesses such as ankylosing spondylitis were healed.
In a report, reproduced in the Revue, Dr. Fischer states emphatically that Bruno Gröning is no charlatan, rather a naturally gifted doctor of the soul. In so doing, he tried to explain the “Gröning Phenomenon” from his point of view, without really doing him justice.
Gröning forbids profiteering
The final certificate granting Gröning permission to heal, was to be issued after all the results were evaluated. Bruno Gröning was assured that the way would be cleared for him once and for all to continue with his work. In the meantime, Dr. Professor Fischer and Professor Weizäcker (who were responsible for the whole exercise) made Bruno Gröning the following proposal: they wanted to build healing centers, in which he would work side by side with doctors. The doctors, however, were to be responsible for managing and selecting patients.
To this Bruno Gröning responded, “The financial matters proposed to me in connection with this proposal were such that they were unacceptable to me. Naturally, there were several discussions about this, including with people who wanted to finance this work. I was not able to agree to the proposal from Dr. Professor F. and turned them down because firstly, I do not have a penny to my name, and so I cannot accept any financial commitment which I am unable to fulfill. And secondly, I have never considered making a business out of the entire undertaking. For me it was an impossible request. Besides, I wanted to do only that which belongs to my calling; to help the help seekers and therefore make myself available to doctors such as psychotherapists, but on no account to make a business out of the whole matter.”
Absence of the certificate and potential conflict with the law
Bruno Gröning’s contrary attitude led the professors to lose interest in him. The certificate they had promised was never issued. Instead of providing him with the freedom to continue his work, new obstacles were placed in his way. As a result of the research being carried out, his “healing method” was referred to using words such as “treatment,” “patient” and so on, and thus was judged to be medical practice. A conflict with the law relating to Non-Medical Practitioners Act was thereby inevitable.
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.
