Maximilian Bircher-Benner

Bust of Maximilian Bircher-Benner at Bad Homburg, Germany (Georg Krämer, sculptor, 1965).

Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner (August 22, 1867 – January 24, 1939) was a Swiss physician and a pioneer in nutritional research. At his sanatorium in Zürich, a balanced diet of raw vegetables and fruit was used as a means to heal patients, contrary to the beliefs commonly held at the end of the 19th century.

He is best known for the invention of the muesli cereal, although his invention differs significantly from what is today known as muesli', and in Switzerland specifically as 'Bircher Müsli.

Bircher-Benner changed the eating habits of the late 19th century: Instead of much meat and white bread, he postulated eating fruit, vegetables and nuts. His ideas included not only controlled nutrition, but also spartan physical discipline. At his Zurich sanatorium off of Bircher-Brenner-Platz, the patients had to follow a somewhat monastic daily schedule including early bedtime (21:00), physical training and active gardening work. His theory of life was based on harmony between the human being and nature. Some of his ideas originate from observing the daily life of shepherds in the Swiss Alps, who lived a notably simple, but healthy life.

In the late 20th century, after closure of the sanatorium, it was briefly a student hostel. It has since been bought up by Zurich Financial Services, and is now known as the Zurich Development Center, and is used for various executive training purposes. The Center also houses an extensive private art collection.

In parallel to Bircher-Benner in Europe, John Harvey Kellogg worked in the U.S. and followed another, but somehow similar theory of the healthy diet.