Jean Georg Haffner
Encyclopedia
Jean Georg Haffner was a medical doctor and the founder of the first spa located in Sopot
.
Johann (Jean) Georg Haffner came in 1808 together with Napoleons's Grande Armée to the Free City of Danzig
. He was garrisoned there with the French army in which he served as a surgeon in the rank of a major. In Danzig he married in 1808 Regina Karoline Bruns, widow of Johann Christoph Böttcher. Since the year of 1811 he was practicing in the town as a civil medical doctor too. He was also running a swimming bath. In addition, he carried out injections against cowpox
. When the French troops withdrew from the region in 1814, Haffner remained in Danzig.
On his request Haffner obtained in 1823 from the Prussia
n authorities the license and the exclusive right to establish and to operate in Zoppot (now Sopot) a spa type of seaside resort. The land along the beach, which was needed to realize the project, was handed over to him on the basis of hereditary leasehold. He built and financed himself a spa hotel and a number of bath pavilions. The spa type of recreation and health centre founded by him had triggered off Zoppot's later development into a famous and noble spa resort.
Sopot
Sopot is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000....
.
Johann (Jean) Georg Haffner came in 1808 together with Napoleons's Grande Armée to the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
. He was garrisoned there with the French army in which he served as a surgeon in the rank of a major. In Danzig he married in 1808 Regina Karoline Bruns, widow of Johann Christoph Böttcher. Since the year of 1811 he was practicing in the town as a civil medical doctor too. He was also running a swimming bath. In addition, he carried out injections against cowpox
Cowpox
Cowpox is a skin disease caused by a virus known as the Cowpox virus. The pox is related to the vaccinia virus and got its name from the distribution of the disease when dairymaids touched the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by...
. When the French troops withdrew from the region in 1814, Haffner remained in Danzig.
On his request Haffner obtained in 1823 from the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n authorities the license and the exclusive right to establish and to operate in Zoppot (now Sopot) a spa type of seaside resort. The land along the beach, which was needed to realize the project, was handed over to him on the basis of hereditary leasehold. He built and financed himself a spa hotel and a number of bath pavilions. The spa type of recreation and health centre founded by him had triggered off Zoppot's later development into a famous and noble spa resort.
Literature
- Altpreußische Biographie (Christian Krollmann, ed.), vol.1, 1941, p. 305.