If you have access to DW = Deutsche Welle, the German Television
Network (here in the San Francisco area, they are on channel 32),
their "In Focus" program had a special (today) on Dr. Moritz Schreber,
an important early figure in the German naturalism movement.

Dr. Schreber was an orthopedic doctor, and advocated the physical
improvement of humanity via machines (to correct posture),
exercise, and gardening. He also promoted "family values"
and is best know for his book, the title of which translates as
"Educating for Beauty".

Dr. Schreber died in 1861 at age 53, of a perforated intestine.
After his death, a movement sprang up that emphasized his
teachings: living in garden plots, regimented and controlled education
of the youth, exercise for therapy/health and social reasons, and
seeking perfection of the mind and body.

The Schreber movement, which flourished in Germany in the late 1800's
and later, was so successful in organizing children that it was
eventually co-opted into the Hitler Youth organization in the 1930's.

Schreber promoted perfection through exercise (not diet), and
was philosophically a part of the German naturalism movement, parts of
which were a historical influence on the modern raw foods movement.
(Other influences on raw include what could be dubbed American naturalism:
Harvey Kellogg, Sylvester Graham, other figures of the 1800's,
and, in more modern times - Indian naturalism - eastern religions,
yoga, tantra.

The movement begun by Schreber spans a period from the 1850's
through the blossoming of the German naturalism movement in the
late 1800's, early 1900's, all the way to (and linking with)
the 3rd Reich.

Anyway, if you have access to DW and are interested in "old" German naturalism
(which is a philosophical influence on the modern raw movement),
you might find the program of interest.

Tom Billings