Carl (Charles) Frank Fischer M.D. (c. 1821 – 21 June 1893) was a German-born, Anglo-New Zealand homeopath and viticulturist who, in 1853, worked as physician, at the Homoeopathic Medical Institution, in Hackney, London. He was assisted there by resident physician, Archibald Richard Shaw.

In the mid-1850s, Fischer and his family moved to Auckland, New Zealand, where he set up in private practice and opened an homeopathic dispensary. Fischer also published two homeopathic periodicals in Auckland, established the Auckland Homeopathic Association, and in 1858 he founded an homeopathic hospital in the town.

He subsequently relocated to Sydney, Australia, before returning to London, and finally retiring in Australia.

According to Fischer, he was the first person to practice homeopathy in the southern hemisphere.

Little is known of Carl Frank Fischer’s early life. He was of German origin and told contemporaries that he had lived for some time in Munich. He claimed to have gained the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Martin Luther University of Halle in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1848, and a degree from the University of Berlin.

In July 1851, Fischer married Prudence Florentine De Lattre. They had a daughter, Maria Theresa, known as Thérèse, who was born in 1857 and died in 1918.

The same year, 1851, “Charles” Fischer was recorded as an Homeopath in the The London and Provincial Medical Directory, practicing at 11 Stamford Hill, London. The following year, 1852, he was listed as practicing in Upper Clapton.

Fischer became a member of the Hahnemann Medical Society. In June 1852, he presented a paper at the Society meeting on the subject of “Od Power.” This was reprinted the following month in The Monthly Journal of Homoeopathy and the Journal of Health and Disease.

In 1853, Fischer had emigrated once again, this time to Auckland, New Zealand. There he established himself as an homeopath with a thriving practice.

Dr Fischer was a flamboyant advocate of homoeopathy. His Auckland practice was launched in 1854 with some priceless publicity after his treatment of Jane Graham, the wife of George Graham, a prominent Auckland entrepreneur and politician. Jane Graham had been crushed when the upper floor of a shop collapsed, and Fischer had been able to revive her after several other doctors had failed. The attendant publicity filled his waiting rooms and sparked an intense debate in the Daily Southern Cross between Fischer and other Auckland doctors over the merits of homoeopathy. Fischer dismissed his attackers’ arguments as pique in the face of competition.

In March 1855, Fischer issued the first volume of a new periodical, The Homoeopathic Echo: A Journal of Health and Disease. This was published by John Bell’s Homeopathic Pharmacy, at Shortland Street, Auckland, and ran for twelve issues, until February 1856:

To boost his practice further he sent copies to his patients. The journal promoted the value of homoeopathic remedies with extracts from the standard texts on the subject, and advocated cleanliness and a healthy diet. Veterinary remedies were also discussed.

In 1857, Fischer established the Auckland Homeopathic Association, and the following year he founded an homeopathic hospital in the town. The Auckland homeopathic hospital existed from September 1858 to November 1862. During that time a total of 1047 patients were treated, 154 of which were inpatients. 70% of these inpatients were cured.

The 1860s were a decade of contrasts for Fischer, as he became a wealthy and connected member of Auckland society, but later suffered substantial financial losses:

With the patronage of some of Auckland’s commercial élite, including John Logan Campbell, Fischer was assured of a ready demand for his medical services. His elegantly decorated Homoeopathic Medical Dispensary was located in Queen Street, and he was superintendent of the homoeopathic hospital, which functioned from 1858 to 1862. One of his supporters explained that under Fischer’s care a patient “never gets blistered, or bled, or cupped, or poulticed or half poisoned, every two hours, with a draught as bitter as the pain.”

In addition to his medical career, Fischer was also involved in the management of the Auckland Mechanics Institute and, with a longstanding interest in natural history, he also became a member of the Auckland Institute & Museum:

He had a renowned collection of exotic plants, and was an intimate friend of both Ferdinand Hochstetter and Julius Haast. They met at a reception given by Fischer for the scientific staff of the Austrian frigate Novara in December 1858. He invested in land, and established nurseries and a vineyard, and built a wine-cellar and brandy distillery.

However, by the 1860s these [homeopathic] treatments were infrequently used by orthodox medical practitioners. In 1866 a second medical journal, Fischer’s Magazine of Homoeopathy, appeared briefly, but by 1867 Fischer was deeply in debt. Whether the decline in the popularity of homoeopathy was responsible, or simply financial ineptitude, is unclear.

Aware of the opposition to homeopathy from orthodox medical men, and determined to safeguard his livelihood, in 1868, Fischer applied for Registration under the New Zealand Medical Practitioners’ Act of 1867.

Fischer left his wife and daughter in Auckland and made a trip south, visiting Haast in Christchurch and doing well in Wellington, where he attracted a large corresponding practice. He was back in Auckland before March 1868, but his financial reverses had severely affected his professional reputation. He contemplated a new start in Sydney, but decided to remain in Auckland “& live down the scandal.” Now receiving his patients at his home, Sans Souci, which was heavily mortgaged against his debts, he wrote to Haast in February 1869: “I am very busy in my profession, charge higher fees and have money sufficient to pay my way,” but his speculations in the Thames goldfields were unsuccessful and his health was troubling him.

Fischer and his family left New Zealand for Australia in 1869. He set up in practice in Sydney, where he remained until the end of 1876, when he transferred his practice to Dunedin-based homeopath, Dr John Feild Deck.

From 1877 to 1880 the Fischers were in Europe. They spent Christmas 1877 in Vienna with Hochstetter, reminiscing about New Zealand.

In November 1879, Fischer’s wife, Prudence, died in London. He returned to Sydney with his daughter, having graduated in medicine at the University of Würzburg, and having become a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in London.

In October 1891 he again visited Auckland to look after his property interests in the city. He told of the great success of his Sydney practice, from which he had now retired, and his addiction to travel.

In May, 1893, just one month before his death, Fischer was elected a member of the British Homeopathic Society.

According to the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography entry for Fischer:

“He died in 1893, after contracting a fever in China while visiting his daughter, who had married a British naval officer.”

However, this is inaccurate. Carl Fischer died in Chicago, USA, on 21 June 1893, just three weeks after attending the World’s Homeopathic Congress from 29 May to 3 June, where he gave a short address on “Homeopathy in Australia.”

Carl Fischer was interred at Oak woods Cemetery, Chicago. His Obituary was in the July 1893 edition of the Monthly Homoeopathic Review:

We were sorry to notice in the Times of the 24th ult., the death, at Chicago, on the 22nd, of Dr. Carl Fischer, late of Sydney, Australia, and formerly of Auckland, New Zealand.

Dr. Fischer was, we believe, a native of Berlin. He was a graduate in medicine of the University of Wurzburg, a licentiate of the London College of Physicians, and a member of the College of Surgeons.

He emigrated many years ago to Auckland, where he rapidly acquired an extensive practice. After residing there a few years, he passed over to Australia, where he settled in Sydney. He was a man of great natural ability, genial and hearty in his manner, and possessing a singular capacity for inspiring confidence in all who consulted him. With such gifts his success and popularity in Sydney, great as they were, are in no way surprising. Several years ago he retired from practice and came to reside in London. He was on a visit to Chicago for the purpose of attending the World’s Homoeopathic Congress, in which he had taken a part, when the illness occurred which terminated fatally on the 22nd of June, at the age of 69.

An account of the Congress, published in the August edition of the The Homoeopathic World, included a brief but touching memorial to Fischer:

I cannot proceed until I have expressed my deep regret at the death of Dr. Carl Fischer. A German by birth, an English colonist by adoption, he was a most agreeable companion at the Exhibition, and it was difficult for the writer to judge as to whether the Fatherland or his adopted country held first place in his thoughts, as we rapidly scanned together the products of both. He related with much enthusiasm incidents in his professional career, and waxed particularly eloquent over homeopathic triumphs which had rewarded his skill. He was much helped by the kindness of Hering, who seems to have caused a homeopathic degree to be conferred upon him, although he possessed several good qualifications, but these points will doubtless be touched upon by some one more conversant with the facts of the case. His genial manner, his linguistic proficiency, his almost faithful enthusiasm, together with his sound professional acumen, rendered him an equally valuable companion, and trusty medical adviser. A local newspaper, as is its wont, exhibited him with his pockets full of bottles, and a kangaroo in the back-ground, a caricature devoid of ridicule, so to speak. Thus glides from our view one more of our stalwart soldiery.
May his sorrowing relatives be consoled among other considerations by thoughts of the brave fight he made, and may the comrade be soon forthcoming who shall take his place.

Select Publications:

Of Interest:

Arthur Fisher M.D. (1815 – 3 December 1913) [no relation] was a Canadian homeopathic doctor who lived and practiced in Montreal.

Charles Edmund Fisher M.D. (1863 – 1932) [no relation] was an American homeopathic physician. Fisher was the editor of the Medical Century: The National Journal of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery.

John Hayes Fisher M.D. (1880 – 1929) [no relation] was a Sacramento homeopathic physician. He was a graduate of the Hahnemann Medical College of the Pacific at San Francisco in May 1905, a founder and secretary of the Sacramento Valley Homeopathic Medical Association, and a member of the California State Homeopathic Medical Society.

Carl Fischer (1902 – 1989) [no evident relation] was an American orthodox physician, professor, and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who trained at the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia.