Sigurd Rambusch was a doctor in Sjørup, where he worked for the general improvement of health in the poor area. Rambusch is also known for his friendship with Jeppe Aakjær and his wife, the feminist Johanne Rambusch.
Life
Rambusch was born in Sønder Omme in 1861, and graduated in 1888.
After her education, Rambusch became a doctor, first in Selde for a year 1888-1889, then in Sjørup 1889-1910. Sjørup medical district covered the parishes of Vroue, Resen, Daugbjerg, Smollerup, Vridsted, Haderup and Grove, and was among the poorest medical districts in Denmark.
In Sjørup, he became a very prominent local figure, he attached himself strongly to the area and became very popular.
In 1910, he became diocesan physician in Aalborg and therefore had to leave Sjørup. He died in Skørping in 1919.
Rambusch was married to the prominent feminist Johanne Rambusch née Faartoft, with whom he had five children.
Medicine and local conditions
Rambusch was a doctor of a type that can perhaps be described as having a more general scientific interest. Rambusch published books that were just as much interested in nature, topography and social conditions as in medicine. In addition to his medical work, Rambusch wrote dissertations that covered the natural conditions at Ringkøbing Fjord and the conditions in the medical district where he worked.
The relationship with the locals was critical, criticizing especially the hygienic conditions in the district, and how changing the traditional ways of doing things could significantly improve public health.
On the other hand, he was very fond of both the area and its inhabitants, as he clearly expressed after his move to Aalborg.
Medicine in Rambusch’s time was at times quite practical. Sleigh rides in snowy weather around the geographically quite large district. There is a story about how after a trip to the westernmost parts of the district, he had forgotten his prescription book, and since there was nothing to write on or with on the farm, the prescription was written in chalk on a wooden gate that the farmer had to take with him to the pharmacy in Holstebro where he was dispensed his medicine.
Although Rambusch was born in Sønder Omme and died in Skørping, he chose to be buried locally in Fjends at Vroue Cemetery. A memorial with a verse by Aakjær has been erected at his grave
“He brought help wherever he went
For even his smile was healing
He loved this harsh land dearly
Here around the edge of his burial mound
Now the weary one has laid himself down
in the center of his business
With sorrow we hid his friend away
Here beneath the flocks of lost birds.“
Friendship with Jeppe Aakjær
For posterity, the friendly relationship with Jeppe Aakjær is particularly noteworthy. Aakjær was personal friends with the couple and for a time lived on the first floor of their medical building on the still existing Holstebrovej 254. Here he wrote his main lyrical work “Rugens Sange” with its clear threads to the local environment.
When Aakjær moved into the house, he was not a popular figure in the area, with his criticism of, for example, the Inner Mission, the conditions for farm workers, and his call for the formation of servant associations. Therefore, Rambusch had to make it clear that it was he, and not the locals, who decided which guests he could have.
In Aakjær’s novels, you can also recognize characters who are inspired by Rambusch’s medical practice, with sleigh rides to the sick and good medical care as a bright spot for the poor.
Sources
- Rambusch, S.H.A., Iagttagelser fra Midtjyllands Hedeegne, Bianco Lunos bogtrykkeri 1906
- Christophersen, V and Johnsson, J.W.S., Den Danske Lægestand 1915-1925 tenth edition, Jacob Lunds Forlag Copenhagen 1925, p. 649
- Hauge, Niels, Aakjærs venner i lægeboligen i Sjørup, in Fra Viborg Amt 1994 p. 140-148
- Skive Folkeblad 24/2-1961 p. 5, 15/1-1919 p. 3, 7/5-1951 p. 3
- Vroue Church | Vestfjends Pastorat – www.vestfjendspastorat.dk