Dr. Hertzka was born in Bad Gastein, in the Salzburg region. His father, Dr. Josef Hertzka, was a spa and community physician in Bad Gastein. Gottfried Hertzka studied in Vienna and received his medical degree on July 15, 1938, almost simultaneously with the German invasion of Austria—a traumatic experience for the young physician. This period also saw his first contact with the Latin texts relating to the medical part of Hildegard's writings. His interest in Hildegard was sparked by his literary studies of Paracelsus, who had been laid to rest in Salzburg.
During his training as a military doctor, Dr. Hertzka learned about the Nazi practice of euthanasia, the systematic mass murder of the mentally ill and disabled, which brought him into conflict with the authorities. His upright stance cost him nine months in a concentration camp. Having escaped this horror at the end of the war, Dr. Hertzka devoted himself definitively to Hildegard's healing methods, using elements of conventional medicine only where he deemed them unavoidable.
Dr.Hertzka, who was already convinced that spelt was fundamentally of Hildegard medicine, sought permanent residence in the traditional spelt-growing regions of southern Germany, which he finally found in Konstanz. He opened a general practice on Gebhardsplatz. Dr. Hertzka was finally able to put his previously acquired theoretical knowledge of Hildegard medicine into practice. In 1955, he gained the help of a pharmacist friend from Konstanz, who prepared various Hildegard remedies for the patients of Dr. Hertzka's Hildegard practice, most notably the famous " heart wine " made from wine, honey, and parsley. During this time, the first contacts were made with the JURA company in Konstanz; as the only pharmaceutical company far and wide to have manufactured natural remedies since 1925, this was actually a logical coincidence. In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Hertzka was also a research associate at JURA from 1960 to 1965.
The healing successes achieved with Hildegard remedies were not lacking, and in 1970, the reports and patient questionnaires led to the publication of "Thus Heals God," the first instructional manual for Hildegard medicine. Since then, this pioneering booklet alone has sold 19 editions, totaling nearly a quarter of a million copies. Patients from all over Europe flocked to Dr. Hertzka's Hildegard practice on Gebhardsplatz. It was inevitable, therefore, that the demand for Hildegard remedies exceeded the production capacities of any pharmacy. The complicated manufacturing process for the duckweed elixir alone was a problem in itself, not to mention the large-scale production of the ointments.
For this reason, in 1984, Dr. Hertzka entrusted the JURA company with the production of his Hildegard remedies, making them available to all interested pharmacies. Dr. Hertzka was passionately committed to spreading Hildegard's healing methods. He saw this as a great opportunity to (re)unite medicine and theology. Despite much opposition, he championed the healing methods, the remedies, and the patients. The more intense the attacks on Hildegard's healing methods became, the greater the successes with patients.
From this tension emerged numerous books with which Dr. Hertzka popularized classical Hildegard medicine: "How God Heals," "Miracles of Hildegard Medicine," "Kitchen Secrets...", "Gemstone Medicine...", the "Handbook of Hildegard Medicine," and the "Great Hildegard Pharmacy." These books reflect Hildegard's wisdom and are intended to serve as guides for a new medicine in the new millennium.