Vincenz Priessnitz
Although hydrotherapeutic treatment for mental illness had ancient roots, it received increased attention in the 19th century, when the water cure craze spread throughout the western world. Developed and popularized by Vincenz Priessnitz, a peasant from Gräfenberg in Austrian Silesia, it promised relief from the common ills of the day. Gout, rheumatism, tuberculosis, melancholy, indigestion were all treatable, or so it was argued, with water. Priessnitz's wasserkur was a combination regimen that required regular exercise, sweating, and the use of cold water immersion and wraps.
A simple man with no medical training and only a rudimentary education, Priessnitz based his technique on traditional healing methods and offered neither luxury nor, in many cases, even ordinary comfort. Yet within just a few years of opening his wasserkur clinic in Gräfenberg in 1822 Priessnitz had attained a continental reputation; by 1840 he was treating 1,600 patients a year, including royalty.
Of course, because he lacked medical training, Priessnitz kept no case records and could therefore provide no clinical proof of success. Yet he seems to have had no need of proof. His fame was spread so effectively by patient testimonials that by the 1840s the water cure had become a full-fledged fad. Imitators opened up non-medical water-cure establishments throughout Europe, Great Britain and the United States, so that within a very short time, hydrotherapy became the alternative of choice for patients seeking to augment or avoid more orthodox medical treatments.