Otto Overbeck

Who is Otto Overbeck?

Otto Overbeck was a prominent advocate of electrotherapy in the early twentieth century. He worked initially as the scientific director of a brewery in Grimsby, and an example of his electrotherapy device, the Overbeck Rejuvenator, is held by the Thackray Museum. Overbeck patented aspects of the Rejuvenator in many countries during the late 1920s, and used these patents as stamps of authenticity on the device. He marketed the Rejuvenator extensively in many countries. He also attempted to establish an underlying "theory of electric health", which he advocated in his text A New Electronic Theory of Life. In this book, Overbeck linked all manner of ailments with an imbalance of electricity. Restoring the natural balance of the electric body, Overbeck argued, could overcome all illness apart from those caused by germs or deformity. The Rejuvenator was not an electric "shock" device in the traditional sense; rather, it made use of very small, harmless, levels of electric current, which were applied to affected areas on the body by means of intricately shaped electrodes. He amassed significant wealth from sales of the Rejuvenator, and during his latter years he lived in a palatial house in Sharpitor, Salcombe, Devon, England, which is now owned by the National Trust and known as Overbeck's. Here, he collected all manner of natural historical artefacts, and gathered specimens of tropical plants from across the world, opening the gardens to the public.