Niets dan een handlanger, in alles aan den geneesheer ondergeschikt . Wederwaardigheden van zich emanciperende heilgymnasten in Nederland eind negentiende eeuw

Abstract

A mere assistant, in every respect subordinate to the physician. Vicissitudes of emancipating 'heilgymnasten' in the Netherlands in the late 19th century During the eighties of the 19th century several physical education teachers who were engaged in physical therapy activities, so called 'heilgymnasten', believed that only a solid organization of serious, educated and well-trained heilgymnasten could bring about a positive change in the situation at hand in the field of physical therapy. On September 1st 1889 the 'Genootschap ter beoefening van de Heilgymnastiek in Nederland' (,Society for practising heilgymnastiek in the Netherlands') was founded. The main aim of its members was to establish a state-exam, a public trainingschool as weI as to ensure proper legislation for this 'new' profession. In this paper the focus of attention is on the founding of the 'Genootschap' and the reactions it provoked from organizations and practitioners in the fields of physical education and medicine during the first years of its existence. One could say that at first the 'Genootschap' was tolerated. Several well-known Dutch physicians joined the 'Genootschap' as 'extraordinary-member'. Very soon however, some physicians came to see the activities of this organization as a threat to the process of differentiation and specialization in the field of orthopaedic surgery that had just began. They emphasized that the 'heilgymnasten' who worked relatively independent from physicians in the field of physical therapy had no legal status; in fact they argued that these practitioners were actually breaking the law. A solution to these problems was sought through law-suits against 'heilgymnasten' to ensure that they would only practise physical therapy under supervision of physicians. In a next article the plight of one of the Dutch 'heilgymnasten', Hendrik Soeter, who can be considered as a 'victim' of this strategy, will be discussed in more detail. The Dutch 'heilgymnasten' did finally gain a legal status for their profession, but they had to wait for that until! more than fifty years after the foundation of the 'Genootschap'.