The Donner Report and Letters

In 1966 Donner wrote a report and two letters on this. The text and the translation of this material is to be found elsewhere, this is a survey of all prior publications.

Bibliographical data of the Donner documents

Originally typed manuscripts from 1966, Institut für Geschichte der Medizin der Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stuttgart, Germany.

The Report was first published as ‘Observation faites lors des vérifications relatives aux méthodes de l’homéopathie. Les Cahiers de Biothérapie, vol 21, p. 5-26. (1969).

It also appeared (in installments) in:
Perfusion 1/95, 8. Jahrgang (Klaus Pia Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Nürnberg/Exeter) p. 3, 4, 6, 7; 2/95, p. 35, 36, 38-40; 3/95, p. 84-86, 88-40; 4/95 p. 124-126, 128, 129; 5/95, p. 164-166.

Most of part IV appeared in slightly abridged form in: Otto Prokop, ‘Homöopathie’. In: Irmgard Oepen and Otto Prokop, Aussenseitermethoden in der Medizin, Darmstadt, 1986, p. 165-172, and also in Otto Prokop and Wolf Wimmer, Der Moderne Okkultismus, Stuttgart 1987, p. 60-66. The Dutch text of part IV contains extra material from these versions.

The Donner Report is also in: Robert Willi, Homöopathie und Wissenschaftlichkeit: Georg Wünstel und der Streit im Deutschen Zentralverein von 1969 bis 1974. Essen (Thesis 2003).

The French versions of the letters were published in:
Jean-Jacques Aulas, Gilles Bardelay, Jean-François Royer, Jean-Yves Gauthier, L’Homéopathie: Approche historique et critique et évaluation scientifique de ses fondements empiriques et de son efficacité thérapeutique. Éditions Médicales Roland Bettex, Lausanne-Paris, 1985. The letters are in Annexe 5 and Annexe 6, p. 335-360.

Jean-Jacques Aulas, Gilles Bardelay, Jean-François Royer, Homéopathie: État actuel de l’évaluation clinique. Éditions Frison-Roche, Paris, 1991. The letters are in Annexe 3 en 4, p. 207-229.

I am not aware of any other previously published versions.

The German text on this website is not identical to the typed original. Some abbreviations have been expanded and typing errors that Donner would have corrected if he had noticed them are corrected. I have been assisted in making a Dutch translation by two board members of the VtdK and the correction of the German text was greatly assisted by a German colleague. In the German documents the page numbers are inserted as they appeared on the original sheets.

The documents are

Bemerkungen zu der Überprüfung der Homöopathie durch das Reichsgesundheitsamt 1936 bis 1939

Dutch translation

Donner an E. Unseld, 15.10.66
Dutch translation

Donner an H. Schoeler, 7.11.66
Dutch translation

Biography Donner