Pioneer in Natural Health

- since 1923

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on the Hätschen in Teufen, following in the footsteps of AlfredVogel, his most important medicinal plants, his life and workas a Pioneer in Natural Health. We hope, dear visitors, to giveyou an impression of the effect that Alfred Vogel’s passionatethirst for knowledge and incessant energy for work had onnaturopathy and human health.

If Alfred Vogel were still alive and came across you here in thegarden he would give you a very warm welcome. He wouldengage you in conversation in his affable and compassionateway and take you on an explanatory tour of his medicinalplants. It would also be typical of him to present you with abox of Herbamare as you were leaving, together with a paidsubscription to the magazine Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.VogelHealth News).

You are here in the garden in which, for decades, Alfred Vogelgrew organic vegetables, fruit and medicinal herbs. Its successwas due to hard, back-breaking work. ‘When I settled inTeufen in 1937 I had to lay out my garden at a height of morethan 900 metres.’ In his magazine, Gesundheits-Nachrichten,he wrote: ‘the loamy soil was so heavy and oily that it wasmore suited to a brickyard’. However it wasn’t just the soilthat was tough, so too was its owner. Over the years hemanaged to produce, amongst other things, magnificent

specimens of Chinese medicinal rhubarb and whole fields ofpurple coneflowers.

The garden in Teufen was one of approximately eight smallplots of land which Alfred Vogel laid out during his lifetime –always with the same energy and enthusiasm and always withthe intention of growing organically cultivated quality plantsfor his fresh plant preparations.

We would like to invite you on a short journey of discovery

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Africa

Kalahari – searching for the plant for rheumatism

Australia

Nutrition – an important requirement for health

Molkosan – the herbal freshness of the Alps

Bambu – more than a coffee substitute

Herbamare – the healthy seasoning

The role of nutrition in health and illness

Spreading the knowledge of naturopathy‘The Nature Doctor’ grows in popularity

An example of constancy

Lectures

The later years

Tradition and passion today

More information, c ontacts

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ContentA brief look back into history

The early years

The first years in the canton of Appenzell

Fresh plants

Pioneer of phytotherapy

Years of hard work in Teufen

The years of construction

The most important native plants

St John’s Wort brings the sun into nature

Hawthorn – berries for the heart

Arnica – taming the wild

Sweet fir buds for coughs

Inquisitive explorer

The most important journeys

North America

Alfred Vogel, the Sioux Medicine Man and Echinacea

Saw Palmetto for the prostate

South America

Asia

Ginkgo biloba – power plant for cerebral circulation

As happy as a sandboy thanks to Durian

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At the end of the 19th century and in the first third of the 20th

century there was the Life Reform Movement, a social protestmovement, comprising of very diverse goals and attitudes butnot associated with any political parties. Fundamental to itsemergence was the fear that modern society would lead to the‘destruction of civilisation’ through ill health. These diseasesof civilisation could be avoided and cured by returning to a morenatural lifestyle.

Supporters of Life Reform set store by, amongst other things, alifestyle as close to nature as possible, organic cultivation,vegetarianism and natural remedies. Healthfood stores emer-ged on the initiative of life reformers.

Amongst the most prominent members of the Life ReformMovement in Switzerland were the Catholic priest JohannKünzle (1857-1945) who came from St Gallen and Dr MaximilianOskar Bircher-Benner (1867-1939).

Künzle, a supporter of herbal medicine, dealt in herbal mixtures,delivered lectures and wrote successful books such as Chrut undUchrut (Herbs & Weeds) which has sold millions of copies andbeen translated into many languages. He was also the publisherof Salvia (a monthly magazine for non poisonous herbalmedicines).

A brief look back into historyDr Bircher-Benner was a doctor, a nutritionist and a strict advocateof raw and wholefoods. He set up a clinic in Zürich where hehealed the sick, by means of ‘sunlight food’ propagated byhimself, and physical training. Modelled on the diet of theAlpine herdsmen, he developed the ‘apple diet dish’, whichlater became known as Bircher muesli.

Bircher-Benner travelled around the country, delivering lecturesand he also established his own magazine in 1923 entitled ‘DerWendepunkt im Leben und im Leiden’ (The Turning Point in Lifeand in Suffering).

The pioneer, Alfred Vogel, was also part of this historic milieuand became friends with Bircher-Benner. Like Künzle, Bircher-Benner and other predecessors and contemporaries, AlfredVogel’s opinions were praised – but also treated with hostility,to which he reacted with a fighting spirit and an almostmissionary zeal to explain, defend and gain acceptance of hisviews. You are about to discover in detail how he succeeded.

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Alfred Vogel was a lively, inquisitive person with high ambitionsthat eventually led to his success. Very different from his startin life. His forbears were farmers and millers, his father ahairdresser. He grew up in Aesch near Basle alongside hissiblings, a modest but free existence. An inquisitive, brightchild, he loved animals and enjoyed nature walks with his father.

As a young man he grew rebellious, swimming against the tide.To his parent’s horror he became a vegetarian at 17 years ofage and not only that, for years he fed himself exclusively onraw food. Being opposed to war and weapons, the experienceof the First World War put him in an extremely difficult positionin Switzerland at the time.

As a young man of 21 he took on the role of a health storeowner in Basle. Although he was very successful in business,the first years proved difficult. In 1927 he married SophieSommer, a teacher and, in the following two years, two girlswere brought into the world. Sophie Vogel wrote to a friend atthe time: ‘Money is tight and we have large outstanding debtsand expenses….’

No wonder then that the husband was unstoppable. Hebrought in wholefood foodstuffs and imported more healthproducts, travelled and took part in conventions for the purpose

of self improvement. Study periods at scientific institutions andwith experts provided him with a deeper knowledge of organicchemistry and about the science of vitamins (still in its infancythen). In the 1930s he opened affiliated health stores in Zürich,Solothurn and Berne.

He set up a publishing house and published shorter papers suchas Gift in der Nahrung (Poison in Food) (1925), producing some25,000 copies, Kleiner Wegweiser für Lebensreform (A SmallGuide to Life Reform) (1929) and not least his own magazineDas neue Leben (A Fresh Start) (1929), the forerunner ofA.Vogel Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News) whichis published to this day.

The Vogel family with Alfred Vogel (3rd from right)

The early years

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Alfred Vogel’s interest in more intensive therapeutic workpersuaded him to move to the canton of Appenzell in 1933. Inthe canton there was a liberal policy in relation to the acceptanceof naturopaths and remedies, and here he could achieverecognition as a naturopath and open a practice. In 1935 hefounded the Bioforce laboratory, which specialised in fresh plantextracts.

Once the family had obtained a plot of land with a house hereon the Hätschen in 1937, Alfred Vogel set about opening asmall sanitorium and children’s home (also a diet centre). Inhis clinic he advised patients on how to reclaim their health byadopting a natural diet and lifestyle and he offered his remediesfrom fresh plants, vegetarian food, with vegetables that hehimself had organically grown, and modified fasting cures. Hewas so successful that he – quite modestly – formulated thefollowing text in an advert for the clinic: ‘If your doctor is unableto help you, if your illness is declared incurable, try phytotherapy!’

His wife Sophie, or Müetti (Mummy) as she was known toeveryone, was of course also very busy with the nursing andcare of patients.

The whole family was regularly involved in the gathering offresh herbs: for many years by public transport and – there were

still no public railways – mostly on foot. The arrival of the firstmotor car in 1945 made the process of gathering and transportingmedicinal herbs so much easier.

He was happy to report: ‘I look for most of the herbs myselfalong with my wife and children ... the time spent gatheringherbs which takes me both into the mountains in the cantonsof Graubünden and Appenzell is the best part of my job … inthe midst of my beloved plants I think up the best remediesand recipes.’

However this time was far from easy. Alfred Vogel had a hardtime trying to gain the trust of the established residents ofTeufen who reproached the ‘offerer of health’ for producinglucrative products from plants that were to be found inabundance in nature, in order to make money.

The ‘Hätschen’ in 1945

The first years in the canton of Appenzell

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Alfred Vogel came to the conclusion early on that extracts fromfreshly harvested plants had a better, ‘wider and deeper’ effectthan the standard extracts of that time from dried plants. Thisdiscovery proved to be an enormously important motivation forhis entire life, for his work as a naturopath, for his research intomedicinal plants, for his recipes and for the best possiblemethods of production.

The fresh plants had to be organically cultivated, harvested orgathered at the optimum time and above all, prepared withgreat speed. Alfred Vogel and his co-workers carried outnumerous tests to find out which plant best developed theentire spectrum of active ingredients. They found out, amongstother things, what if any were the differences in qualitybetween plants grown in the lowlands and those grown on highground. The aim was always to offer the best quality freshplant preparations possible.

Alfred Vogel imposed standards with these demands for qualitythat are nowadays consistently implemented at Bioforce AG inRoggwil. And what’s more, with an ever-increasing knowledgeabout the environment as well as questions about climatechange and the importance of sustainability, A.Vogel hassucceeded today, with modern methods, in lending evenstronger support to Alfred Vogel’s philosophy.

Around the middle of the last century the mood of thewider population towards phytotherapy was unfavourable. Themilitancy of a trailblazer was brought into question. ‘Nature ismuch richer than the poison cabinet of chemotherapy and weshould put our complete trust in it’, was his urgent warningagainst the fixation of many doctors and some patients onchemical and synthetically produced medicines.

That Alfred Vogel succeeded, through his magazine and hisbooks, to make phytotherapy so hugely popular in Switzerlandin spite of all opposition is justification alone for the title,pioneer of phytotherapy.

It is a fact that even today his observations on the effectivenessof fresh plants continue to be confirmed through modernanalysis and measuring techniques.

Another pioneering activity of Alfred Vogel was his insistenceon the use of the whole plant where possible. The discoverythat secondary plant substances contribute to the value andaction of the healing plant is now accepted by scientists. If onlycertain parts of the plant are used, e.g. the above ground partsor only the roots, it is important to choose a process which willextract as many of the ingredients as possible.

Fresh plants Pioneer of phytotherapy

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Freshly harvested, organically grown plants from natural,carefully selected seeds form the foundation of A.Vogel naturalremedies. From the plant to the extract and tablet a philosophyis consistently implemented, at the centre of which is nature.A.Vogel fresh plant preparations must contain the purest andbroadest possible spectrum of actives from the fresh plant.

Years of hard work in TeufenDuring the first 15 to 20 years in Teufen the life of Alfred Vogeland his family went something like this: rise with the lark andgo to bed early. The hours in between were packed with the

care of patients, consultations in thepractice, responding to an ever increasingnumber of telephone and written patientenquiries, reading text books, attendingtraining courses, tending two gardens inTeufen and in the canton of Graubünden,the use of garden produce, keeping EastFriesland sheep for milking, gatheringherbs, berries and fir shoots, theproduction and dispatch of medicinal

remedies and his lectures. Also the magazine that now bearsthe name Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News) wasmaking a regular appearance and each month required eightlarge newspaper pages to be written.

The years of constructionIn the years following the Second World War the Vogel familyfared better. They were able to afford assistants in the practice,in the secretarial office, in the production of medicines, in thehousehold and in the herb gardens.

Alfred Vogel found time to write the manual, Der kleine Doktor(The Nature Doctor), a book with the same aim as Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News), namely self-help. In doingso he never anticipated that the huge success of the book wouldmean that even more work would land on his writing desk. Nowenquiries from all over the world were beginning to pile up.

During these years numerous companies were developedoverseas, from Finland to South Africa and Canada to Australia.In Montreal (Canada) and Cape Town (South Africa) he openedup the first healthfood stores.10

Alfred Vogel in his ‘office’ in Teufen

These years saw a great enthusiasm for lectures in Switzerland,Germany, Holland and indeed the whole of Europe. Naturally,foreign countries wanted to profit from the charismatic oratorand, as a result, more and more invitations arrived in Teufenfrom abroad.

This was the time of travels to all five continents andexperiences that mellowed Alfred Vogel in some respects. Forexample, in 1960 he noted: ‘I myself have been a vegetarianfor more than 40 years. In my youth I was almost fanaticalabout it … on my travels I had to alter many of my preconceivedviews and opinions. When faced with this question today I havebecome more neutral than in my younger days.’

These were the years in which Alfred Vogel continued to worktirelessly on his magazine, Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.VogelHealth News). He wrote about his journeys while he wastravelling in aeroplanes, ‘but also in the wilderness, on theseashore in a secluded bay or on an island in the huts ofindigenous people’.

Whenever he discovered a new culture, a beautiful country, anunknown plant, he told his readers about it straight away, fullof enthusiasm. These were also the years in which a large,modern company with its own fields was built in Roggwil/TG.Bioforce AG was launched in 1963 and was a new, enormouschallenge for Alfred Vogel who was by then 60 years of age. Itwas not his custom to delegate tasks and it did not come easy

to him no longer to have control of all the reins. But AlfredVogel would not have been Alfred Vogel if he had not kept aneagle eye to ensure that his guidelines on plant cultivation,production and quality of the remedies were being adhered towithin the large business venture.

Sophie Vogel, his loyal wife and supporter, died at the end of1982. She once said: ‘Alfred was the engine and I have triedall my life to jump on to the back of the train.’ She also knew:‘He had the ideas and I had to put them into practice ineveryday life.’ Who can say if he would have produced all hismany books and magazine articles without her?

Luckily Alfred Vogel found an understanding partner in hissecond wife, Denise, who shared his beliefs and supported himwith great strength and care. Denise Vogel, well-versed in theways of the world and proficient in languages, was anindispensable help with work that was waiting to be dealt with,with countless foreign schedules and with the compilation ofthe book, Krebs – Schicksal oder Zivilisationskrankheit? (Cancer- Fate or the Disease of Civilisation).

Today Denise Vogel is not only the valued publisher ofGesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News) but also animportant voice on the governing board of Bioforce AG. Inaddition she is president of the A.Vogel Foundation whose aimis to carry on the company and the philosophy of its founder.

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The most important native plantsNow we return to base, to the beautiful, vital, fresh medicinalplants that Alfred Vogel said had never disappointed him.

St John’s Wort brings the sun into nature

There are approximately 370 types of St John’s Wort worldwidebut only one is used for medicinal purposes: Hypericumperforatum. The bronzed flowers appear on St John’s Day on24th June. If the sun has reached its highest point thenHypericum perforatum will have the highest content of healingactive ingredients. Before the flowers appear the characteristictranslucent dots appear on the leaves. These have earned theplant its name perforatum (perforated). If you take a closerlook you will discover black glands on the edge and in somecases on the surface of the leaves. They contain derivates ofhyperin that give the well known St John’s Wort oil, which hasalways been used in the treatment of wounds, its red colour.

New research data has pointed to St John’s Wort as anantidepressant. To date the efficacy of no other herbalpreparation has been similarly substantiated by solid scientificresearch. It is becoming more common for doctors to promote theplant for mild to moderate depression and emotional problems.It is even used in in-patient psychiatry – with good results.12 St John’s Wort – Hypericum perforatum

Several contract farmers grow a special variety for A.Vogel that,on the one hand is suitable for organic cultivation and, on theother, provides an optimum spectrum of active ingredients. Theflowering tips are harvested at the best possible time andfreshly prepared on the day of harvest.

Hawthorn – berries for the heart

‘Hawthorn always reminds me of the time when great-grand-fathers and grandfathers were good at recognising plants. Asa child I used to help with crushing the berries and putting theminto white wine.’ In his work as a naturopath, Alfred Vogelcould of course not do without the remedy from the fresh, redberries, which are good for invigorating weak or tired hearts.

Many patients value the tincture from hawthorn berriesbecause of its effectiveness. They love the heart tonic, whichnot only calms an agitated heart but also eases heart sorrow.Alfred Vogel very cleverly substituted sweet Malaga wine forhis grandfather’s tart white.

Firmly convinced of the effect of hawthorn, the naturopath wasnot slow to praise the preventative and healing properties ofthe red berries. In Der kleine Doktor (The Nature Doctor) herecommended hawthorn as a reliable remedy for arteriosclerosis,raised blood pressure and angina pectoris, as well as forhardening and narrowing of the arteries in the heart. 13Hawthorn berries – Crataegus monogyna

Arnica – taming the wild

Mountain arnica is the classic ‘first-aid’ plant for back pain,sprains, bruises, haematoma, musculature and lumbago.Arnica flowers were much sought after by many ointmentmanufacturers. Only conservation could save the plant fromextinction. It was then proved, thanks to modern research, inwhich A.Vogel was greatly involved, that the Arnica montanaplant was likewise effective in joint pain. It can put a stop toinflammation and acute pain. What was to be done now?Where could Arnica be taken from without stealing it? At thatpoint the shy mountain plant had defied all attempts atcultivation.

For the plant loving Alfred Vogel only strictly controlled organicfield cultivation was possible, which caused heads to shake inexpert circles. However, the persistent campaigner found anequally tenacious comrade. Professor Ulrich Bomme from theBavarian State Institute for Agriculture accepted the challenge.It took 15 years for the cultivation of mountain Arnica to becarried out efficiently and sustainably.

In the summer, when the Arnica fields are in full bloom, theyellow-gold flowers are picked by hand and, in the space of 24hours at most, are processed to produce a highly concentratedArnica preparation. It fights inflammation at the root of theproblem and alleviates the agonising pain of arthritis and otherforms of rheumatism. It is logical that classic treatment areas14 Arnica – Arnica montana

such as back pain, musculature, muscle tenseness, haematoma,sciatic pain and sport injuries might also benefit from treatmentwith mountain Arnica.

Sweet fir buds for coughs

‘Fir trees do not cough,’ said Alfred Vogel with a smile duringone of his lectures. He was alluding to the active ingredientsof the bright green, delicate buds which can ease the throatduring coughs and hoarseness and loosen tough mucous. Hehad planted 500 fir trees in Aesch on his plantations and in thespringtime harvested the new young shoots for his coughmedicine. The soft juicy shoots of spruce firs formed the basisof the active ingredients for the beloved fir cough syrup andtasty cough lozenges. Today the fir shoots come from bothorganic cultivation and authorised collection in the wild.According to the demands of A.Vogel only shoots from thebottom third of the young trees or fir hedges should be pickedso as to interfere as little as possible with growth. Harvestingtakes place in the last two weeks of May and in the first twoweeks of June and is done by hand. As always with freshplants, the time factor is of vital importance and the shoot tipsshould arrive in Roggwil in a fresh condition.

15Sweet fir buds – Picea abies

Inquisitive explorerAlfred Vogel was never content with second hand information.If he wanted to know something he looked for the relevantinformation at source – whether he was visiting a bakery or amanufacturer of medicinal remedies (‘in order to obtain soundinformation from experts’).

This also gave him a deeper motivation to travel amongstindigenous people. He wanted to know about the plant worldsin foreign continents, the lifestyle and the healing methods ofindigenous people in situ. He investigated whether thesesimple living people would cope with the so-called diseases ofcivilisation. He said, ‘I wanted to learn about their healthcare,what they ate and how they spent their days.’

The most important journeysIn 1920, at 18 years of age, Alfred Vogel sat alone without acoin to his name in a cheap Italian hotel, unable to pay for hisreturn ticket in the fourth class rail compartment. There wasno response from any of the friends who owed him money.There was nothing left for him to do but ask his parents for aloan. Of this episode he reported: ‘I wrote, giving the reasonthat I needed money to buy something as a souvenir and,instead of money, I received a reply from my sister telling me

to come home without buyingany souvenir.’

Curiosity and wanderlust remained.At least when he did travel at alater date he did so in morecomfort, by ship to the USA andSouth Africa and by air round theglobe.

North America

The new world held more of a fascination for Alfred Vogel thanit did for his wife, Sophie. Following his very first visit he noted:‘Things were a bit difficult with our limited school English … wecould talk but understanding was a completely different matter.We managed to muddle through …’ It must be added thatAlfred Vogel spoke very good English in subsequent years,delivering lectures in Canada, Great Britain, South Africa,Australia and New Zealand and on TV programmes as well asbeing a sought-after interviewee on radio.

The initial fascination disappeared and gave way to a certaindegree of disappointment. Several journeys took him from eastto west and from north to south in the USA by car, train andtrailer. Despite thousands of kilometres ‘in pure Indian territory’he was disillusioned by his study journeys to the Native16

Alfred Vogel with Gibraltarin the background

Americans as they lived on reservations and had nothing incommon with the original natives. His search for unknownplants did not achieve tangible results - with one great andastonishing exception.

Alfred Vogel, the Sioux Medicine Man and Echinacea

In 1953, in South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation he gotto know Ben Black Elk and talked to him about God and theworld, life on the reservation, the disappearance of the manyNative American customs and about plant medicines. In thisway he gained the trust of the medicine man who passed onto him his knowledge about the effect of Echinacea, themedicinal plant that was to be so important to Alfred Vogel.Black Elk also presented Vogel with Echinacea purpurea seeds.The Sioux had known of this plant for generations andfrequently used it as a remedy – chewed leaves used externallyfor snake bites and festering wounds and internally tostrengthen the immune system in feverish diseases andinfections.

Only later did it become clear to Alfred Vogel just howextraordinary was this friendly gesture. On his travels throughSouth America he frequently found that the Indians guarded‘the secrets of their medicines’ very closely and were in no wayprepared to share them with any passing stranger.

17Echinacea – Echinacea purpurea

Alfred Vogel proved himself worthyof the generous gift. He planted theseeds in Teufen and also in theEngadin where he nurtured andtended his Echinacea cultivations.Years later, he summed up: ‘I havegrown and slowly acclimatisedEchinacea in the Engadin (at a heightof more than 1600 metres). HoweverI had to …have patience for 15 yearsuntil the well tended Echinaceaplant from the Sioux had adaptedcompletely to the change in climate.’

Echinacea drops and tablets are the best known of the A.Vogelfresh plant remedies.

For more than 50 years, millions of consumers in over 30countries have trusted the antiviral power of Alfred Vogel’sbeautiful beloved plant to strengthen the immune system,ward off colds and reduce inflammation.

Saw Palmetto for the prostate

We are still in the USA, looking at the southernmost corner ofthe mainland, towards Florida, which Alfred Vogel visited withhis family and where he got to know the native Seminole wholive there. Florida is home to the American saw palm (Serenoarepens). It grows north of the Everglades, on sandy dunes andin pinewoods. The palms are mostly no more than one metrehigh but do occasionally grow into complete bushes, reachingseveral metres in height. An inconspicuous plant were it notfor the nutritional fruits beneath the light green leaves. TheNative Americans in the sunshine state had used the fruit ofthe saw palm for bladder infections and digestive problems. Inparticular, problems due to the start of prostate enlargementincluding frequent urination, problems with passing water andtrips to the loo at night. The Seminole had yet anotherinteresting use for the fruit of the dwarf palm. They used it forimproving erectile problems.

The fruit used in the production of the Saw palmetto preparationstoday rates as one of the best known and, more important, bestresearched medicinal plants for the treatment of symptoms atthe onset of prostate problems.

A.Vogel obtains Saw Palmetto berries from Florida where thesaw palms are grown in bio-certified half wild cultures. Colleaguesat the cultivation company ensure that the palms have enough

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Alfred Vogel and Ben Black Elk

space to grow in the fenced-off fields and are not overrun bythe forest or other competitor plants.

South America

His search for countries where you didn’t need to go toreservations to find Indians, brought Alfred Vogel to Central andSouth America in 1958. Indeed he got to know manyindigenous people, from the Mayas in Guatemala to the Shuarin Ecuador and the Quechua (Inca) in Peru, Bolivia and Chile.There was no country in this huge continent that he had notvisited. He got to know many new plants, for example thetropical papaya (at that time not yet in every supermarket), thebarbasco root, a natural insecticide, the rocoto chilli which isgood for problems with the spleen, the planta niña which hasan antibiotic effect, condurango bark which contains bittersubstances and which promotes healing in stomach andduodenal ulcers, or the chanca piedra from the Peruvianrainforest which the Indians used for gall bladder problems. InUraguay he learned about the very rare Indian remedy,lapacho-pichini bark. Of Luffa operculata, a tropical type ofgourd, he wrote: ‘I have often watched how the Indians beatthem on flat stones in the river until the green flesh iscompletely gone. The hard fibres are used as a remedy.’ Thistype of gourd described as Sponge cucumber is valued inhomoeopathy for sniffles, hayfever and chronic dry nose,as well as sinus problems, and is characterised as being 19Saw Palmetto – Serenoa repens

particularly suitable for long-term use. It is an ingredient inhomoeopathic complex remedies for sinus and nasal problemssuch as hayfever.

At some of his destinations he met Swiss people who had madethat country their home. He had particularly good connectionsin Peru and so came about the daring idea of acquiring a 72hectare farm in the middle of the virgin forest near the townof Tarapoto. The intention was to plant certain medicinal herbsthere. He created a clearing and alongside the medicinal plantshe planted bananas, maize, cassava (manioc), carrots, all typesof spices, grapes, breadfruit, papaya, chiramoya, avocado,acerola cherries, raw cane sugar, coffee and yucca. At the startof this new project Alfred Vogel toiled in the fields and enjoyedthe simple things in life. ‘During the day when I was breakingsweat due to hard labour in my fields in the Cordillera, it waswonderful, … to be able to dive into the light brown water ofthe nearby river. I have never found such a wonderful naturalbath anywhere else.’

Later he could no longer look after the farm due to his manyresponsibilities and, after eleven years, he had to give up. Hecommented: ‘Despite all my hard work nothing has come outof it since the production of medicinal herbs is still at theexperimental stage.’ The campaigner had lost the fight.

At the end of 1958/59 Alfred Vogel undertook an adventurous600 km river journey from Yurimaguas to Iquitos through the

deepest Amazonian jungle to learn about the way of life of theIndians who lived there. With an acquaintance and a native hetravelled the route in a dug-out canoe and in the evening askedfor accommodation near the river in small Indian settlements.In Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News) he wrote: ‘Ilived exactly like the Indians, I ate with them and slept in theirhuts.’ His indispensable companion on this and other journeyswas his ‘small case with (his own) remedies, which proved tobe of invaluable assistance’. The most important preparationin it was Echinacea drops which Vogel took every day. That hehardly ever was seriously ill on these dangerous journeysthrough wasteland and grass-covered plains is testament to thefact that the plant protected him daily against infections,inflammations and other illnesses.

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Asia

Alfred Vogel went there many times, some of his destinationsbeing Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia,Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

He made contacts to enable him to import the best ginsengroots from Korea or dried organic fruit from Thailand intoSwitzerland.

Once, on his return from the Far East, he made ‘an attempt atplanting soya beans. Various soya dishes that I learnt about inChina and Japan impressed me so much … that I planned toplant this type of bean in Switzerland but my attempts were atthat time not crowned with success’. (Around 1974 he triedagain with a new variety of soya – and was successful).

Ginkgo biloba – power plant for cerebral circulation

In Japan Alfred Vogel learned about the Japanese Ginkgo bilobatree. It was astonishing to discover that the seeds survived theatom bomb dropped in Nagasaki and had sprouted in thecontaminated earth. In its homeland, China, the oldest Ginkgobiloba trees were apparently 4,000 years old. There theyreached a height of over 40 metres and a trunk diameter of 4metres. The healing effect of Ginkgo biloba leaves oncirculatory problems in the brain and on poor concentration is 21Japanischer Tempelbaum – Ginkgo biloba

astounding. Alfred Vogel was so enthusiastic that he plantedone of these fascinating trees in his garden. In 1986 Vogelwrote that he wanted to harvest the leaves of his ginkgo treesto enable him to prepare a fresh plant tincture since they were‘better and more active than those produced from dried plants’.This was the beginning of the development of an effective andvery reliable A.Vogel fresh plant preparation.

Modern day science has extensively examined the effects ofGinkgo biloba and confirms its circulation-promoting effect.Ginkgo promotes bloodflow, raises the speed of flow in thecapillaries, stabilises the cell membranes and optimises theoxygen supply. It stimulates the brain metabolism, improvescognitive performance, concentration skills and reaction speedsas well as memory and learning skills. The action of Ginkgo toincrease the ability to concentrate and for improvement ofshort-term memory is particularly recognised.

As happy as a sandboy thanks to Durian

When Alfred travelled to Indonesia, he learned about the Durianplant for the first time and discovered that many researchersand travellers described the fruit as the best in the world. Andactually Durian (Durio zibenthinus) with its prickly shell isaromatic and delicious fresh from the tree. Alfred Vogel foundthat, several days after harvesting, the shell developed an

unpleasant smell, like garlic, onions and ripe cream cheese.Others maintained the smell reminded them of rotten eggs orturpentine. No wonder D urian is banned in most publicbuildings in southeast Asia and in the underground inSingapore. ‘Yet, if someone who can’t stand the smell werejust once to taste the heavy tropical fruit that looks like amassive head, they would be amazed. What smells so awfulis quite excellent to taste,’ wrote Alfred Vogel in his classic bookDer kleine Doktor (The Nature Doctor). When travelling in the1960s with his wife and daughter from the Malaysian capitalof Kuala Lumpur towards Singapore he carried a Durian in histrunk. A strong smell spread through the car and the womencomplained about the stench. The thrifty plant researcher didnot want to throw the fruit away. He asked the driver to stop.Both sat at the edge of the road and ate the whole stinkingfruit. With impressive consequences. To his astonishment,Alfred Vogel was wide awake well into the night, which wasunusual for him, and as he said himself, he was as happy as asandboy.

The Durian fruit, rich in minerals and vitamins, whichincidentally is completely odourless, has found its way intoA.Vogel muesli, and is known in Asia and Australia for itsstimulating and power giving effect – some say it has anaphrodisiac effect.

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Africa

Alfred Vogel travelled through this continent many times.Amongst others his destinations were Morocco, Liberia,Monrovia, Eritrea, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Namibia and SouthAfrica. In the run up to these journeys he regularly sent copiesof Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News) to Swissambassadors and consulates so that he was ‘not a completestranger’ when he visited ‘as our country’s representative insomebody else’s country’. He had contacts and friendseverywhere who brought different African medicinal plants tohis attention.

He discovered the African hypoxis root, which has a positiveeffect on certain chemical processes in the prostate, as well asthe haronga tree whose essential oil from bark and leaves has‘an excellent effect on the pancreas’. He also learned aboutSpilanthes oleracea (paracress), which is found in East Africa.He promptly planted the delicate plant, which needs warm air,in his Swiss herb garden and rejoiced when it regerminated inspring following a cold winter. The anti-inflammatory andrefreshing effect of paracress still has a role today in herbalmouthwash and mouth spray.

Kalahari – searching for the plant for rheumatism

In the mid 1960s Alfred Vogel travelled for the first time intothe Kalahari, the dry savanna or semi desert of the borderregion between South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. In thedry and sandy earth grows a medicinal plant for rheumatism –Devil’s Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens). The plant can onlybe seen when the fresh shoots and pink to crimson flowersappear during the rainy season. For the greater part of the yearthe above ground plant parts, which lie flat on the ground, aredry and brown and can barely be spotted between thewasteland grasses and brambles. The native bushmen, the San,used the root tubers which lie deep in the ground as a tea forthe healing of wounds, for the relief of digestive problems andfor liver and kidney problems, as well as pain, but kept theirknowledge very secret.

That is until a German who had settled in Namibia as a farmerfound the plant and in 1920 sent the roots to Jena in Germanyfor analysis. Following the discovery of the anti-inflammatoryactive ingredients the plant was introduced to Germany in the1950s as a medicine. Naturally, this aroused Alfred Vogel’sinterest in Devil’s Claw. In Namibia he travelled with nativefriends along with a ‘pick and shovel into the grass coveredplain and since it had rained extensively several days before,came across the plant in full bloom’. They dug down to the

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roots, which can be up to two metres deep. As the plant canonly regenerate from the main tuber it is only the tubers of thesecondary roots that are used for medicinal purposes. Theanti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects of Devil’s Claw arevery distinct and it can be taken long term.

At the time Alfred Vogel warned of the risk of exploitation butthe roots were in demand by the whole of the western world.‘The plant must be cultivated’, he insisted. This was not quiteso easy because ultimately Devil’s Claw thrives only inthe Kalahari. Today A.Vogel obtains the raw material froma cultivation project in South Africa. The ecological andsustainable project does not require any artificial irrigationthanks to innovative cultivation methods. It respects theconservation of the plant, provides consistently good qualityraw materials and in addition, offers native families animportant source of income.

Australia

Destinations at the end of 1969 were Australia, New Zealand andTasmania. It was surprising to learn that Alfred Vogel was wellknown here for the wholemeal bread he had developed andwhich could be bought in numerous bakeries in Australia andNew Zealand (and in 1979 achieved a turnover of 15 millionloaves per year). Incidentally Vogel bread is still available‘Down Under’.24 Devil’s Claw– Harpagophytum procumbens

During his six week stay Alfred Vogel delivered 50 lectures on‘natural nutrition and a healthy lifestyle’, arousing great interestamongst the population and, as he proudly mentioned,amongst doctors as well. In Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.VogelHealth News) he reported by return of post: ‘Despite a full andstrenuous programme in which I must cope with flights, talkson radio and television, occasionally address between 15 to 20reporters at a time on a daily basis, I have succeeded inavoiding severe fatigue.’

In the magazine he also described this amusing episode: ‘In thehotel everyone looked at me strangely when I put my packetof wholefood muesli on the table and asked for sour milk,buttermilk, yogurt or fruit juice in order to prepare my muesli.In Brisbane (Queensland) I was staying in a very good hotel.For breakfast I asked for a fruit salad made from the finesttropical fruits that were available there. But the staff just stood,looking perplexed ... so I fetched papayas, mangos and otherfruits from a nearby store ... mixed with the muesli, this wasfor me, together with a Bambu coffee and Vogel bread, awholesome breakfast. When a journalist called on me he hada great deal to say about the grand meal at the start of my day’.

Nutrition - an important requirement for healthOn his travels Alfred Vogel studied the diets of people who werestill living a primitive way of life. He was looking for ‘convincingideas and arguments’ to support his theory that these peoplerarely or never suffered from the so-called diseases ofcivilization such as rheumatism, gout, hyperacidity, cancer orheart attacks. He wrote: ‘I consulted many indigenous people.I stayed with Indians in North, Central and South America; inAfrica I visited those native tribes who still lived by the oldcustoms and way of life. Likewise I was interested in thosepeople who lived near the Himalayas of whom it is said theirlifestyle is the most natural possible. I also investigated the livesof the Polynesians and Melanesians on various South Seaislands’.

And now we come to the subject of diet, a subject thatpreoccupied Alfred Vogel at all times. We have alreadyinformed you that as a young man he fed himself with rawfood, for decades thereafter he was a vegetarian, and everyonce in a while in his later years he was not averse to fish or apiece of white chicken. For him a ‘correct’ diet meant, aboveall, moderation in eating. This small, able-bodied man wasproud of the fact that he had maintained a weight of 60 kilosthroughout his life. 25

As a young, talented gymnast hefed himself on raisins, dates,almonds, apples and driedbananas. In the meanwhile hisgym colleagues continued to eatraw eggs and sustaining proteinfood to increase their physical

prowess. In his magazine he stated:‘I did not dare to confide my opinion to

my colleagues as they would have laughed atme were it to be contrary to the prevailing views in sportscircles at that time ... it was difficult having your own ideas asI often learned through bitter experience.’

In 1926, already the owner of a health store in Basle at 24, heproved himself as a nutritionist and ranted in his brochureKleiner Wegweiser für Lebensreform (A Small Guide To LifeReform), against the ‘ghost of the modern food industry’ which,due to the supply of inferior foodstuffs, ‘strangled appetite forlife’. In this booklet he explains substandard foodstuffs thathave been robbed of ‘their vitamins and goodness’ by meansof ‘chemical and mechanical preparation processes’. The youngshop owner skilfully linked this information to his own rangeof goods, the healthy benefits of which he then described.

For Alfred Vogel ‘healthy nutrition’ was based on eating ‘naturalproducts in their most unadulterated form’ (wholefoodproducts, wholegrain rice, unrefined sugar). Equally important

for him was the rationing of animal fat and protein as well asthe omission of harmful products such as alcohol, coffee andtobacco.

He wrote books and delivered numerous lectures on the subjectof nutrition – Nutrition as a Healing Factor, Poison in Food,Diseases of Civilisation as a Result of Poor Nutrition or TheQuestion of Protein.

All too often the naturopath had to enlighten his patientson the relationship between poor liver function andover-consumption of animal protein and fats. When a goodfriend died from a liver complaint he decided to write down hisexperiences and knowledge on the ‘basic principles of goodhealth’ and ‘the most wonderful laboratory’ in the body. Thebook with the somewhat disturbing yet nevertheless accuratetitle ‘Die Leber reguliert die Gesundheit’ (The Liver as aRegulator of Health) appeared in 1960 and was produced threeyears later in four foreign languages. It deals comprehensivelywith nutrition and diet, medicinal plants and physical measuresfor care of the liver, gall bladder and pancreas.

In addition he kept himself very busy with ‘recipes’ for healthyfoods. Especially close to his heart was wholemeal bread. In1953 he proudly stated, ‘ (I) have now launched a naturalbread under the name of A.Vogel’s Flockenbrot that has thesame content as that used by primitive people’. Neverthelesshe strove for years to improve his recipe for good, light26

wholemeal bread – and reported on this in detail inGesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News).

Molkosan – the herbal freshness of the Alps

The second foodstuff that Alfred Vogel busied himself with veryearly on was the sustainable version of healthy whey. In 1926he developed with a doctor and a chemist ‘the first attempt atfermentation. The three of us workedfor months. This often took meinto the night … until we(achieved) a fine tastingwhey which only neededto be concentrated –which once again wasa question of time,experience and skill asthe vacuum concentrationapparatus was at that time notso well developed. It took anotheryear before the whey concentrate was available in the shops.’The fermentation of lactic acids resulted in a concentrated form,the well-known Molkosan. It is particularly valuable that 95% ofthe lactic acid in Molkosan exists in the form of dextrorotatoryL(+) lactic acid which can easily be utilised by the human body.It has a stimulating effect on peristalsis and thereby the digestion.In addition Molkosan promotes intestinal flora.

Molkosan, the cleansing elixir from the Swiss Alps, is not onlya healthy thirst quencher but also a purifying drink for gooddigestion and to help keep you slim.

Bambu – more than a coffee substitute

The oldest of Alfred Vogel’s range of coffee substitutes on offerin Basle was the ‘cereal, fruit and root coffee’, a light drink forthe whole family with ‘a beautiful colour’ and ‘a good aroma’.The raw ingredients were at that time and are to this day,cereals (rye), tropical fruits (figs), forest fruits (acorns) andchicory roots. Vogel was, as he himself said, a fanaticalopponent of coffee. However, he reported in Der kleine Doktor(The Nature Doctor) that he did indulge in this neurotoxin whenhe wanted to stimulate his nervous system on car journeys thattook him through the night. This was ultimately better than therisk of falling asleep at the wheel. Later his opposition wasappeased by the sight of the beautiful coffee trees on hisPeruvian farm and his experience of coffee preparation withthe Arabs (‘without milk, with coffee grounds and with quite alot of added sugar, this Arabic method of preparation causedvery few problems’). He adhered to the principle that for thesake of your health it was more sensible to replace bean coffeewith a good cereal and fruit coffee.

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With the development of the instantversion in 1960 Alfred Vogel

invented the catchy name,Bambu. In Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel HealthNews) he said ‘he had cho-sen the name Bambu as areminder of one of the most

interesting coffee houses in Gua-temala. It is full of Indian culture

and cannot be quickly forgotten’.

Herbamare – the healthy seasoning

Alfred Vogel maintained that adding seasoning to meals hadthree functions. First to contribute to the good taste, second tostimulate digestion and third the seasonings themselves shouldcomplement the healing effect of the foodstuff owing to theircontent of vitamins, minerals and trace elements. These hemanaged to achieve in his fresh herb sea salts by combiningtaste and health in an excellent way. For more than 50 yearsHerbamare, the sea salt with 12 fresh vegetables and herbs,has been a kitchen sensation and is one of the most loved andwell known foodstuffs in Switzerland.

The pure, natural product, sea salt, the garden fresh ingredientsand the complex production process guarantee the first classquality of A.Vogel fresh herb salts. They are manufactured inAlsace. The organically grown, freshly harvested herbs andvegetables are prepared in Colmar. The herbs and vegetablesare individually chopped, mixed in a ratio of 1:2 with roughnatural sea salt and stored in closed containers. From between3 and 18 months the salt crystals have time to take on thearoma and colourings, the essential oils and enzymes as wellas other active substances from the herbs. With this process,called maceration, Alfred Vogel had discovered a fascinatingmethod of conserving the components of fresh ingredients.After being dried in a vacuum at a maximum of 40°C the saltsare ground individually and mixed according to Alfred Vogel’soriginal recipe.

In Herbamare there are 12 delicious and aromatic ingredients:celery (stalks and leaves), leek, cress, onions, chives, parsley,lovage, garlic, basil, marjoram, rosemary and thyme. It is alsoenriched with the iodine-containing sea alga, kelp, which AlfredVogel learned about in California and which he valued a greatdeal due to its metabolism-stimulating effect.

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The role of nutrition in health and illness

As a naturopath and nutritionist Alfred Vogel was conscious ofthe close relationship between nutrition and health. He notinfrequently sadly declared that ‘people who have beensuccessfully helped by medicinal plants often forfeit thisencouraging benefit through poor nutrition’. He insisted ongiving his patients, listeners and readers advice on self-help.He always stressed that each of us, to a certain degree, isresponsible for our own health and that healthy nutrition usingfoodstuffs produced in the most natural way possible was abasic prerequisite.

In Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News) he asserts:‘I was convinced that natural healing methods using fresh plantpreparations, water treatments and all the other physical formsof treatment should not come to a standstill. In order to achievea satisfactory outcome nutritional therapy has to be the basis.’(1962)

Spreading the knowledge of naturopathyAlfred Vogel published many papers, several books and amagazine in his own publishing house. Other Swiss lifereformers and naturopaths have done the same but no one hasbeen as successful and as steadfast as he has.

‘The Nature Doctor’grows in popularity

‘It was asked for 5,000 times within the space of a year,’exclaimed the author in surprise. And that was only throughword of mouth and advertising in his magazine. With Derkleine Doktor (The Nature Doctor) Alfred Vogel had anoverwhelming publishing success. Translated into a total of 12languages, it became a bestseller and sold well over 2 millioncopies. (Circulation in the Netherlands alone amounted to morethan 1 million books.)

Originally written for the inhabitants of remote areas inwhich the doctor did not live round the corner, the guidedeveloped amazingly quickly into a worldwide reference bookfor self-help and naturopathy. First published in 1952 and 384pages long, the book was constantly extended due to thenaturopath’s new experiences and knowledge and today is 29

available in a beautifully presented new German edition withmore than 860 pages. It is also available in English.

An example of constancy

His journal entitled Das neue Leben (A Fresh Start) appeared inBasel from 1929 to 1933. Following his move to Appenzell heattempted in the summer of 1941 to publish a magazine again.A.Vogel Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News)appeared in 1946 and was published regularly each month. Since1960 it has appeared in the practical format we still have today.This long success story is thanks to Alfred Vogel personally for, inspite of an unbelievable workload and his many journeys, healways managed to put together the journal with his interestingexperiences and knowledge. His numerous reports on his travels– whether typed on a small travel typewriter or jotted down in anotebook – always arrived on time in Teufen from wherever hewas. In later years it was a cause for concern to him that his‘lovechild’ should be kept alive.

Nowadays Gesundheits-Nachrichten (A.Vogel Health News) isa modern magazine with current topics on naturopathy,nutrition, environment, medicine, psychology, joie de vivre andadvice on self-help. The editorial office and small but excellentsubscription, advertisement and internet departments operatefrom the very house in which the Vogel family once lived.

Lectures

His lectures were another medium for linking knowledge ofnaturopathy and medical information to advertising. Theyhelped him to stay in contact with items of interest and withpatients. Those who witnessed one of Alfred Vogel’s lectureswere fascinated by his oratory, the forcefulness of his narration,his wit and his charisma. In the subsequent round of questionsand answers he and his listeners often found it difficult to cometo a halt.

Vogel delivered approximately 700 lectures in his lifetime. Evenat 81 years of age he toured from Boston to Miami givinglectures at 26 radio and television stations.

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The later years ‘To some extent as Vogel was fully occupied with naturopathy,his perception of himself also changed. From the 1970s hespoke more frequently of phytotherapy and no longer describedhimself as a nutritionist but as a phytotherapist.’

‘Into his 90s Alfred Vogel remained involved with his companyin the reformulation of fresh plant preparations to actualpharmaceutical and medical standards.’(Jörg Melzer,/Reinhard Saller, Nature Doctor Alfred Vogel(1902-1996), Switzerland. Zeitschrift für GanzheitsMedizin2003*).

Alfred Vogel registered with satisfaction the opening of the firstSwiss Bio shop in Zürich in 1971, the setting up of the ResearchInstitute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in 1974 as well as thefounding of Bio Suisse in 1981, an Association of Swiss OrganicAgricultural Organisations.

With delight and satisfaction he also noticed the growingrecognition of naturopathy in large sections of the populationand in the medical profession – at last the campaigning pioneerhad made his mark.

* Dr. med. Jörg Melzer, Medical Practitioner for the Institute of Naturopathy, Department of InternalMedicine, University Hospital, Zürich/Prof. Reinhard Saller, Director of the Institute of Naturopathy,Unversity Hospital, Zürich 31

If they live long enough, innovators and successful pioneers alsoreceive official recognition. In 1982 Alfred Vogel was awardedthe Priessnitz medal from the German Naturopathic Society andin 1984 he was made an honorary member of the Swiss Societyfor Empirical Medicine.

With courage and perseverance Alfred Vogel had come a longway. He held his convictions with passion and intensity. Hisknowledge and the wealth of his experience made him not onlyan extraordinary explorer but also a remarkable human being.His life achievement is a present to us all – on healthy and onsick days.

Cared for by his wife, Denise, Alfred Vogel died in 1996 at theage of 94.

Since 1997 Alfred Vogel’s Foundation has awarded the AlfredVogel prize for the support of work in traditional naturopathyand scientific phytotherapy. In the 21st century his name standsfor what he was throughout his life – a Pioneer in NaturalHealth, a campaigner for phytotherapy.

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Tradition and passion todayThe goal of all colleagues today is to respect Alfred Vogel’slegacy and to continue his work. This does not mean holdingon to the past but a responsible progression in accordance withhis work as a pioneer.

The most important task in the future (as in the past) is tosupport people with health worries, i.e. to help them tounderstand and treat illnesses better. We see another importanttask as looking after the environment and maintaining thesustainability of natural resources – in short, a love of nature.

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More information– Subscription and trial subscription to Gesundheits-Nachrichten – Books– E-mail newsletter

www.gesundheits-nachrichten.ch www.avogel.ch

Contact in TeufenRemo VetterTel: +41 (0)71 335 66 16 E-mail: r.vetter@avogel.ch

Contact Bioforce AG in Roggwil/Thurgau– Fields of medicinal plants– A.Vogel Healthy Way– Company tour– Half day and day events

Marlene Weber Tel: +41 (0)71 454 62 42 E-mail: ma.weber@bioforce.ch

ImpressumAuthor: Ingrid ZehnderTranslation: Irene Robbie, UKLayout: Alexandra EggenbergerPrint: Kennedy Smith Print, UK