Schetelig Arnold

Schetelig Arnold

Schetelig Carl Friedrich Arnold, physician, anthropologist and archaeologist. Born on 5 June 1835 in Heide (Holstein), he studied medicine in Göttingen and Kiel, where he graduated in 1856. He then moved to Hong Kong, where he practised medicine for many years as a doctor for the foreign colony and became president of the German Club and librarian (1867). Returning to his homeland, he resumed his medical studies as an assistant to the famous Professor Von Essmarch in Kiel. Then, increasingly driven by the desire to perfect his profession, he studied in Paris and later in London under the renowned English surgeon Sir Spencer Wells. He continued his studies in Paris and London, eventually settling first in Hamburg in 1868 and then in Bad Homburg. The Franco-Prussian War found him in Hamburg in 1870, where the Senate entrusted him with the direction of the Red Cross ambulance. With great energy, he followed the Prussian army throughout the entire campaign and was awarded the Iron Cross. Indeed, in Metz, due to the terrible privations and hardships he endured, he contracted the illness that would later worsen the conditions of his final, fatal disease. These circumstances forced him to travel to milder climates, first to Spain and then, in 1871, passing through Nervi, which in 1873 he chose as his new residence and where he resumed his practice during the winter season, returning to Bad Homburg in the summer. But not even these harsh experiences could diminish his love for new interests. Already in 1863, he had begun anthropological and archaeological studies in the Philippines. In Spain, after the war, with research on the ancient tombs of the Goths; later in Germany, with investigations concerning the graves of the remote Saxon populations and the remains of the ancient Roman Empire, he gave free rein to his lively, versatile intellect. From 1873 until the day of his death, he remained faithful to the city of Nervi, to whose progress he had dedicated himself with such love and the intelligence of an apostle. On 22 September 1874, he married Julie von Pustau (born in Hong Kong on 18 December 1853), from whom he had three children: Elizabeth, William Julius and Walter. In Nervi, Dr Schetelig worked tirelessly to improve the hygienic conditions of the town, which were not exceptional at the time, and promoted Nervi as an international winter health resort and holiday destination. He died in Nervi on 17 February 1900, leaving universal regret, and was buried in the cemetery known as "Chiapella" (now Nervi 2), where his wife Julie joined him in 1905. Here is how the magazine of the "Pro Nervi" association, of which he had been founder and driving force, reported his funeral: On the morning of 17 February 1900, Dr Arnold Schetelig lay on his deathbed surrounded by the flowers he had so loved; his face was composed and serene. The mystery of death had not managed to unsettle him, because he was accustomed to dominating events, not to being dominated by them. And indeed Arnold Schetelig had nothing to fear from death. Beyond the limits of the possible, he had done his duty. Illness had struck him down when he was still carrying out his professional duties, when he was still offering his last strength to the impatient call of the sick. The chronicles record, on the occasion of the carnival, a performance at the Hotel Eden on 28 February 1903 by his daughter Elizabeth (1875–1955), a fine violinist, in a Schubert trio. Works: "Nervi and its environs", Art. Institut Orell Füssli, Zurich 1890, in collaboration with Charles Fayod (for the illustrations); "Nervi und seine Umgebungen : ein Handbuch für Gesunde und Kranke" Herausgegeben von Arnold Schetelig, Frankfurt am Main: J. Alt, 1890; "On the Natives of Formosa", Hong Kong 1868; "Homburg and its Mineral Waters," by Dr. Schetelig, M.R.C.P. London. Ref.: (British Medical Journal, August 1889).

Gallery

Schetelig Arnold — schetelig

Schetelig Arnold — julie schetelig

Schetelig Arnold — schetelig 01