Koessler, A Physician in San Martín

A Physician in San Martín with German Gothic Font

Almost intact every since its origins, Casa Koessler invites us to see its privacy. It shows a lifestyle completely unusual for us today.

Those who arrived in the City of San Martín de los Andes in the early twentieth century had a great deal of difficulties to face distances, the weather or the lack of the amenities we can enjoy today. Maybe that is the reason why getting to know the history of life of the first dwellers both thrills and puzzles us.

An old grand house, formerly absent and silent, has opened its door for us to see the family and professional shelter of the first physician in the region: Rodolfo Koessler, M.D. and his wife Bertha Koessler Ilg.

Federico Koessler, grandson of doctor Rodolfo Koessler, welcomed us and led us through the family secrets. These European immigrants brought along their culture and traditions to Patagonia in 1920.

Voices silenced by the passing of time started to come back to life in Federico’s account as we went through the various rooms in the house. The wooden floors cracked and the high walls upholstered with images were a resonance box of a family who got used to an inhospitable San Martín de los Andes.

We will not go into deep detail about the life of doctor Koessler and his wife, a nurse with the Red Cross and devoted writer. We will just point out that they had an outstanding cultural upbringing and that their ideas were avant-garde for the time.

Further anecdotes will be in charge of Federico, who all throughout his own life has been receiving the legacy of his grandparents and has now resolved to make it known. His passion and respect for his elders and all the documentation he treasures make this tour more than interesting.

It was impossible for us to stop imagining the family at the dining-room or at the sitting-room. They would spend the afternoon together at this room, next to the burning woodstove while the warm winter sunshine entered through the large windows. Letters, a gramophone, old records and some photographs featuring them and their friends and guests show what social life in those days was like.

Health, Heavenly Treasure

But what really caught our eye was the surgery where Dr. Koessler worked. Not only was he a general practitioner, midwife, radiologist or dentist, according to each patient’s needs.

“When I was a child, it was forbidden for me to enter Grandpa’s surgery. I was intrigued by everything inside that place and I would imagine all sorts of things when I saw the forceps and bottles he treasured”, Federico told us as his blue eyes glowed.

He was usually called from any distant spot in the countryside and he had to go there and assist some patient. Don Koessler’s generosity remains in the memory of the first settlers for he would never refuse to pay them assistance.

His wife Bertha was also exceptionally worthy. She would not neglect her writing at the same time she helped her husband with the patients. Her admiration for the stories by the Brothers Grimm gave origin to her need to write. As a young woman, she had lived on the Island of Malta, where she compiled data on the origin and customs of the natives and published a book containing their traditions.

She repeated his experience with the Mapuche communities in the area in order to help them preserve their tradition, chants and worship, as they did not use the written word.

As we moved around the house, we had the feeling of traveling back in time. We also had the impression that once we got out, the streets would be made of dirt and some cart carrying goods or water would cross our way.

Like an Apothecary’s Shop

Almost all the domestic items and the surgery elements they used ever since they settled down in this traditional corner in the center of the city have been rescued and are presently on display. Casa Koessler is an exponent of an age, of a lifestyle and of the strength of those people who gave life to our town.

It is important to point out that this is not a museum but an old house that comes to life. Everyday, music is heard and meals are eaten and dreams are dreamed while sleeping at night in the company of the family history.