Peez, August Heinrich

Physician, spa physician

born: 09.07.1785 in Mainz

died: 10.03.1847 in Wiesbaden

The father of the politician Alexander von Peez studied medicine in Heidelberg, Erlangen, Jena, Vienna and Würzburg and obtained his doctorate in 1811. In 1813, he set up as a general practitioner in Wiesbaden. As a doctor employed and paid by the state, Peez was responsible for the care of the inhabitants of the town and its rural surroundings. He was promoted to Medical Councillor in 1818 and to Privy Court and Medical Councillor in 1830. In 1841, he was officially appointed as a spa doctor, relieving him of his previous duties.

In 1822, he introduced the drinking cure at the Kochbrunnen. Until then, it had only been customary to use the Wiesbaden water for baths. The accompanying drinking cure was carried out with water from Schwalbach, which was transported daily in barrels via the Hohe Wurzel to Wiesbaden. Peez made numerous other suggestions for the improvement of the Wiesbaden health resort, e.g. in his main work "Wiesbaden und seine Heilquellen" (1823), in which he emphasized the benefits of using the springs and also propagated the previously unusual winter cure in Wiesbaden. The ducal government sponsored this publication and arranged for it to be translated into English. There was even a Latin edition, which was used for lectures at Russian universities.

Peez was buried in the Old Cemetery on Platter Straße.