[Between individual therapy and political intervention: campaigns against "diseases of civilization" between 1920 and 1960].

The concept of "disease of civilization" is commonly used for a variety of conditions. It implies a criticism of the "modern" way of life. This criticism and the strategies put forward to prevent diseases of civilization are correlated to the specific historical context in which they are formulated. The paper analyses three positions characterising different periods in 20th century German history: In the Weimar Republic, representatives of paediatrics and social hygiene asked for the expansion of public health care programmes according to the principles laid down by the Weimar constitution. During the time of National Socialism, more radical measures were propagated by exponents of hygiene and psychotherapy, aiming at a fundamental restructuration of society in accordance with the Nazi ideology. After 1945, strategies focused on the individual: Physical exercise, abstinence, and individual psychotherapy were propagated to prevent or treat the consequences of life in modern society.