Maria Treben
Encyclopedia
Maria Treben née Günzel (27 September 1907, Žatec
, Bohemia
- 26 July 1991, Grieskirchen
, Austria
) was an Austrian author and herbalist
who in the 1980s became famous through her two books: Health Through God's Pharmacy and Maria Treben's Cures . Her first book was translated into 24 languages and sold over 8 million copies.
Treben addressed seminars and presented at natural health conferences in Germany, Austria and across Europe, attracting hundreds of people. She is perceived as a pioneer of the renewed interest for natural remedies and traditional medicine at the end of the Twentieth century.
, Bohemia
, then Austria-Hungary
, as the middle of three daughters of the owner of a printing shop who died when she was 10. After the Great War, the Sudetenland
became part of the newly founded Czechoslovakia
. In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, she and her husband Ernst Gottfried Treben were victims of the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
. For several years they lived in refugee camps until they found refuge in Austria and settled down in Grieskirchen
in 1951. She died in 1991.
, Greater Celandine
, Ramsons
, Speedwell
, Calamus
, Camomile, Nettle
and Lady's Mantle. She treated a broad range of conditions from psoriasis
to constipation
and diabetes to insomnia
. She used her own recipes as well as traditional healing remedies like Swedish bitters
that she believed was a cure-all. Some of her remedies and advice proved to be controversial as with all natural health cures it is difficult to prove their efficacy. Yet, to this day she is widely read and referred to for her knowledge of European medicinal herbs.
Žatec
Žatec is an old town in the Czech Republic, in Louny District, Ústí nad Labem Region. It has a population of 19,813 .The earliest historical reference to Sacz is in the Latin chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg of 1004. During the 11th century it belonged to the Vršovci - a powerful Czech...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
- 26 July 1991, Grieskirchen
Grieskirchen
Grieskirchen is a town in Austria. It is capital of the Grieskirchen district of Upper Austria, in the Trattnachtal valley. As of 2001, it has 4.807 inhabitants.-References:...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
) was an Austrian author and herbalist
Herbalist
An herbalist is:#A person whose life is dedicated to the economic or medicinal uses of plants.#One skilled in the harvesting and collection of medicinal plants ....
who in the 1980s became famous through her two books: Health Through God's Pharmacy and Maria Treben's Cures . Her first book was translated into 24 languages and sold over 8 million copies.
Treben addressed seminars and presented at natural health conferences in Germany, Austria and across Europe, attracting hundreds of people. She is perceived as a pioneer of the renewed interest for natural remedies and traditional medicine at the end of the Twentieth century.
Her life
Maria was born in 1907 in ŽatecŽatec
Žatec is an old town in the Czech Republic, in Louny District, Ústí nad Labem Region. It has a population of 19,813 .The earliest historical reference to Sacz is in the Latin chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg of 1004. During the 11th century it belonged to the Vršovci - a powerful Czech...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, then Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, as the middle of three daughters of the owner of a printing shop who died when she was 10. After the Great War, the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
became part of the newly founded Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, she and her husband Ernst Gottfried Treben were victims of the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II....
. For several years they lived in refugee camps until they found refuge in Austria and settled down in Grieskirchen
Grieskirchen
Grieskirchen is a town in Austria. It is capital of the Grieskirchen district of Upper Austria, in the Trattnachtal valley. As of 2001, it has 4.807 inhabitants.-References:...
in 1951. She died in 1991.
Her remedies
Maria used traditional German/Eastern European remedies handed down by previous generations. She only used local herbs and always accompanied her remedies with advice on diet. She commonly used ThymeThyme
Thyme is a culinary and medicinal herb of the genus Thymus.-History:Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage...
, Greater Celandine
Greater celandine
Chelidonium majus is a herbaceous perennial plant, the only species in the genus Chelidonium...
, Ramsons
Ramsons
Ramsons — also known as buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, and bear's garlic — is a wild relative of chives native to Europe and Asia...
, Speedwell
Veronica (plant)
Veronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species; it was formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae...
, Calamus
Sweet Flag
Acorus calamus, commonly known as Sweet Flag or Calamus and erroneously as "rush" or "sedges", is a plant from the Acoraceae family, in the genus Acorus. It is a tall perennial wetland monocot with scented leaves and more strongly scented rhizomes...
, Camomile, Nettle
Nettle
Nettles constitute between 24 and 39 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby...
and Lady's Mantle. She treated a broad range of conditions from psoriasis
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. It occurs when the immune system mistakes the skin cells as a pathogen, and sends out faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis is not contagious. However, psoriasis has been linked to an increased risk of...
to constipation
Constipation
Constipation refers to bowel movements that are infrequent or hard to pass. Constipation is a common cause of painful defecation...
and diabetes to insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
. She used her own recipes as well as traditional healing remedies like Swedish bitters
Swedish bitters
thumb|Bottle LabelSwedish bitters is a traditional herbal tonic, said to have been formulated originally by Paracelsus and rediscovered by 18th century Swedish medics Dr. Claus Samst and Dr. Urban Hjärne. In modern times it has been popularised by Maria Treben, an Austrian herbalist. It is claimed...
that she believed was a cure-all. Some of her remedies and advice proved to be controversial as with all natural health cures it is difficult to prove their efficacy. Yet, to this day she is widely read and referred to for her knowledge of European medicinal herbs.
Works
- Maria Treben: Gesundheit aus der Apotheke Gottes - Ratschläge und Erfahrungen mit Heilkräutern, Verlag Wilhelm Ennsthaler, Steyr, 1980, ISBN 3-85068-090-8
- Maria Treben: Maria Treben's Heilerfolge - Briefe und Berichte von Heilerfolgen, Verlag Wilhelm Ennsthaler, Steyr, 1980, ISBN 3-85068-082-7
- Maria Treben: Allergien - vorbeugen - erkennen - heilen / Gesund mit Maria Treben, Ennsthaler (auch bei Heyne, München)
- Maria Treben: Streß im Alltag. Vorbeugen, erkennen, heilen. München: Heyne, 1990, ISBN 3-453-03867-3
External links
- Article in The Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition. MARIA TREBEN: A Pioneer of Herbal Healing
- Article in HerbalGram. The Life of Maria Treben
- Online reference of herbs recommended by Maria Treben to treat various conditions
- Health Through God's Pharmacy by Maria Treben. ISBN 978-3-85068-124-7
- Maria Treben's Cures: Letters and Accounts of Cures Through the Herbal "Health Through God's Pharmacy". ISBN 3850682242
- Review of "Health Through God's Pharmacy"