Bulletin of Semashko National Research Institute of Public HealthBulletin of Semashko National Research Institute of Public Health2415-84102415-8429FSSBI «N.A. Semashko National Research Institute of Public Health»303910.25742/NRIPH.2023.04.024Научная статьяPublic health in Germany (1685—1848): practice and theoryMikhelDmitry V.mikhel-dv@ranepa.ruRussian Presidential Academy of national Economy and Public Administration, Moscow, Russian FederationInstitute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation.15122023414314620102025Copyright © 2023,2023The rise of public health care in Germany was part of a modernization process, the first product of which was the state. As part of the cameralist policy of encouraging population productivity, the dignitaries of Prussia and other German states began to establish special authorities responsible for the health and well-being of the population as early as the late seventeenth century. The 18th century saw a bureaucratization of health management methods, with district doctors (Kreisphysickus) as representatives in the field. They were entrusted with a wide range of administrative responsibilities, but their social status remained low. Some of the district doctors became known as the authors of treatises on medical police, presenting their views on the development of public health. Their theories, however, were far removed from actual practice. The situation began to change only after 1848, when political events in Germany prompted a new generation of physicians to vigorously demand political, social and medical reforms.Germany, modernization, public health, district doctors, medical policeГермания, модернизация, государственное здравоохранение, физикусы, медицинская полиция1.Foucault M. La naissance de la médecine sociale. Dits et Écrits, 1954—1988. T. 3: 1976—1979. Paris: Gallimard; 1994. P. 207—228.2.Frevert U. Krankheit als politisches Problem 1770—1870; soziale Unterschichten in Preussen zwischen medizinischer Polizei and staatlicher Sozialversicherung. Göttingen: Vandenchoeck & Ruprecht; 1984. 469 p.3.Labisch A., Tennstedt F. Der Weg zum “Gesetz liter die Vereinheitlichung des Gesundheitswesens” vom 3 Juli 1934. Teil 1. Düsseldorf: Akademie für öffentliches Gesundheitswesen; 1985. 278 p.4.Сточик А.М, Затравкин С. Н., Сточик А. А. Становление государственной медицины (вторая половина XVIII — первая половина XIX века). Сообщение 1. Возникновение концепции медицинской полиции, органов управления медико-санитарным делом, врачебно-санитарного законодательства. Проблемы социальной гигиены, здравоохранения и истории медицины. 2013;(1):44—49.5.Porter D. Health, civilization, and the state. A history of public health from ancient to modern times. New York: Routledge; 1999. 389 p.6.Weindling P. Public health in Germany. Porter D. (ed.) The history of public health and the modern state. Amsterdam: Rodopi; 1994. P. 119—131.7.Rosen G. The fate of the concept of medical police, 1780—1890. Centaurus: an international journal of the history of science and its cultural aspects. 1957;5(2):97—113.8.Rosen G. A History of public health. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins university press; 1993. 440 p.9.Caroll P. E. Medical police and the history of public health. Medical history. 2002;46(4):461—494.