Life & work

1902 Born and raised in Aesch near Basel (Switzerland).

1923-1932 Managed a health food store in Basel.

1929 First issue of A.Vogel's monthly magazine, in those days entitled Das Neue Leben (A Fresh Start). From 1941 this became the A.Vogel Gesundheits-Nachrichten (Health News), which has appeared every month since 1943 in Switzerland.

1937-1956 Naturopath in Teufen. Research work, development and manufacture of the first natural remedies using fresh plants.

1950 On his first trip to America in the early 1950s, Alfred Vogel met Oglala-Lakota chief Ben Black Elk who introduced him to the healing power of the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

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1952 First appearance of the classic work, The Nature Doctor, which is well known throughout the world today and has been translated into 12 languages. Circulation to date: over two million copies.

1958-1959 Extensive journeys of discovery through North, Central and South America. The photo shows Alfred Vogel with a camera in Central Park, New York.

1963 Establishment of Bioforce AG in Roggwil, Canton of Thurgau, Switzerland - today a leading herbal remedy and health food company operating throughout the world.

1969 Researched the health of primitive tribes in Africa. In the Kalahari and Namibian desserts, Alfred Vogel studied the Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) plant.

1979 Journeys of discovery through Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.

1982 Awarded the Priessnitz medal from the German Naturopathic Society.

1984 Made honorary member of the Swiss Society for Empirical Medicine (SAGEM).

1996 Died in Feusisberg, Switzerland.