Illness and Self-help in Late Eighteenth-Century Rural Switzerland The Strategies of Ulrich Bräker (1735-1798)

Abstract

Based on the journals and the autobiography of Ulrich Bräker, a Swiss pietist spinner, weaver, and cotton trader of humble origin (the so-called “poor man of Tockenburg”), this article scrutinizes strategies of self-help and health care amongst the rural and poor population of the late eighteenth century. The main focus includes four thematic aspects: self-treatment (both self-medication, and self-surgery), thematic networking, taking care of the ill, and economic support.