one of the many health magazines circulating in Germany at the time. But since age seventeen, the philosopher had neglected his body, resorting to medical treatment rather than bathing and a vegetarian diet when treating open wounds and lingering ailments. As a result, the Vegetarische Rundschau claimed, various disease substances were imprisoned in Nietzsche's body where unable to "leave" their cell, they eventually poisoned the philosopher's brain.

A cult of health and beauty swept across Germany around the turn of the twentieth century and lingered on well into the Weimar period. For four decades German scientists and pseudo-scientists, quacks and lay people turned to the body as both a reflection of their own social problems and a utopian answer in their search for control, perfectionism and an ideal world. In their approach, these "life reformers" differed widely from each other. Some simply advocated exercise, a healthy lifestyle, and a balanced diet. Many, however, turned to vegetarianism, nudism, bodybuilding, eugenics or alternative cures in their efforts to improve and perfect the architecture and inner workings of the human body. Why, Michael Hau asks, did German society become so obsessed with physical appearance and well-being at precisely this moment in time?