Kerner, Justinus (Andreas) (Christian)(1786-1862)

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Kerner, Justinus (Andreas) (Christian)(1786-1862)

Noted German poet and physician, born on September 18, 1786, at Ludwigsburg, Würtemberg. Kerner studied medicine at Tübingen and practiced as a physician at Wildbad. In addition to books of poetry, he was the author of a remarkable record of supernormal phenomena and experiments in animal magnetism therapeutics: Die Seherin von Prevorst, Eröffnungen über das innere Leben des Menschen und über das Hereinragen einer Geisterwelt in die Unsere (1845). It is the story of Frederica Hauffe, "the Seeress of Prevorst," who arrived in Weinsberg in November 1826 and became Kerner's patient.

Hauffe was the picture of death, exhibited many frightful symptoms, and fell into trance every evening at seven o'clock. For a while Kerner ignored her somnambulant condition and declared that he was not going to take any notice of what she said in her sleep. He began treating her by homeopathic remedies.

The medicine was ineffective, and Hauffe was fast approaching death. In trance she prescribed for herself a gentle course of animal magnetism. Kerner at first wanted nothing to do with the treatment, but he finally became convinced of the extraordinary character of the case and began to study it in earnest.

His book, published in 1829, passed through three enlarged editions (1832, 1838, and 1846). Translated by Catherine Crowe, it was published in English in 1845 under the title The Seeress of Prevorst; or, Openings-up into the Inner Life of Man, and Mergings of a Spirit World into the World of Matter. In Germany the book caused a great sensation. Among those who inquired into the case of the Seeress of Prevorst were Kant, Schubert, Eschenmayer, Görres, Werner, and David Strauss.

A school of philosophy was built on the revelations of the seeress, and in 1831 Kerner established a periodical, Blätter aus Prevorst; Originalien und Lesefrüchte für Freunde des innern Lebens (Leaves from Prevorst; or, Original Literary Fruits for Lovers of the Inner Life). Its chief contributors were Eschenmayer, Frederik von Mayer of Frankfort, Gotthelf, Heinrich von Schubert, Guido Görres, and Franz von Baader. Twelve volumes were published; then in 1839 the periodical was superseded by Magikon; Archive für Beobachtungen aus dem Gebiete der Geisterkunde und des magnetischen und magischen Lebens (Magikon; or, Archives for Observations Concerning the Realms of the Spirit World and of Magnetic Life). It was published until 1853.

King Ludwig of Bavaria and the king of Württemberg bestowed pensions upon Kerner, while King Frederick William IV of Prussia expressed his admiration in 1848 by sending him the gold medal of art and science. King Ludwig made him the first knight of the newly instituted Maximilian Order of Science and Art.

Besides the Seeress of Prevorst, Kerner wrote a variety of additional volumes, including Geschichte Zweier Somnambulen, nebst einiger andern Denkwürdigkieten aus dem Gebiete der Magischen Heilkunde und Psychologie (The History of Two Somnambules, Together with Certain Notable Things from the Realms of Magical Cure and Psychology; 1824); Geschichten Besessener neurer Zeit (History of Modern Possession; 1834); Nachricht von dem Vorkommen des Besesseins eines dämonisch-magnetischen Leidens und seiner schon im Alterthum bekannten Heilung durch magischmagnetisches Einwirken (News of the Appearance of Possession, Demoniacal-Magnetic Suffering and its Cure through Magnetic Treatment; 1836); Eine Erscheinung aus dem Nachtgebiete der Natur, durch eine Reihe von Zeugen gerichtlich bestätigt (An Appearance from the Night Realms of Nature, Proved Legally by a Series of Witnesses; 1836); Die somnambülen Tische; Zur Geschichte und Erklärung dieser Erscheinung (Somnambulic Tables; or, the History and Explanation of That Phenomenon; 1853); and F. A. Mesmer aus Schwaben, Entdecker des thierischen Magnetimus (F. A. Mesmer, the Discoverer of Animal Magnetism; 1856). Kerner died February 21, 1862.