[Ars medica Anhaltina (IV): Friedrich Samuel Kretschmar (1730-1793) and public healer organization in the philanthropic principality of Anhalt-Dessau].

In the history of the organisation of public health of the 18th century the territory of Anhalt-Dessau takes a remarkable place. There the ideas of enlightenment and philanthropism induced a model, the details of which were determined above all by the activities of the physician Friedrich Samuel Kretschmar. A carefully worked out system of social welfare was particularly for the benefit of the poor population and included prophylactic measures, which also oriented to the variolisation.