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« Tuna 3 / 2018

Faehlmann’s Medical Certificate for Rudolf Gustav Hollmann

In the history of Estonian culture, Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1798–1850) is esteemed primarily as a creator of artificial folk tales and the designer of the main plot of the Kalevipoeg (Son of Kalev) epic. He is additionally appreciated as one of the initiators of the Õpetatud Eesti Selts (ÕES, in English, Learned Estonian Society) and one of its most active members, who also made his contribution to the study and teaching of the Estonian language. Yet even his professional work and his exemplary dedication to his patients, which his contemporaries already affirmed unanimously, has not gone unnoticed. Thus he has even been seen as Estonia’s early Albert Schweitzer. In addition to the laudatory assessments of his legacy, a few specific questions concerning Faehlmann’s work as a doctor have nevertheless also been examined, yet on the whole this has not been studied. The main reason for this is the scarcity of sources, as is the case of his private life as well. Faehlmann issued the medical certificate that is published here on 24 October 1844 concerning Rudolf Gustav Hollmann’s throat disorder. The certificate is deposited in the Latvian National Archives. It elaborates on the circle of Faehlmann’s patients and his relationships with members of the ÕES. Additionally, a story unfolds from this certificate, or more properly from the certificate’s cause and consequences, that sheds light on everyday life in a broader sense in the first half of the 19th century. What is being referred to here is the judicial investigation of Carl Gottlieb Reinthal (1797–1872), the pastor of Rõuge Church, and his dismissal from his position, and the row that ensued in connection with the election of Rudolf Gustav Hollmann (1798–1858) as the new pastor of Rõuge Church. Faehlmann was connected to both parties as a doctor. Bonds of friendship tied him to Hollmann from their grammar school (gümnaasium) days. He could also have gotten to know Reinthal in his youth during his university days. All three of them were keenly active founding members of the Õpetatud Eesti Selts. Since other ÕES members were also connected with the events in Rõuge, this scandalous incident could have provided a topic for discussion more broadly in the society of that time.