Kothen is a small town in eastern Germany, well known as Sebastian Bach's birth place and during the DDR regime as an area of heavy industry. At the beginning of the 19^th century it became home to Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homoeopathy. It was in this town that he first got permission from the governor to dispense his homoeopathic remedies himself. He became the first consulting physician of Prince Ferdinand of Anhalt-Kothen.

The exhibition "homoeopathy in Kothen" is situated in one of the rooms of the castle of Anhalt/Koethen , and it offers an important insight into the life and work of Samuel Hahnemann. The collection covers a vast range of items , containing very valuable exhibits about the history of homoeopathy , it relates mainly to items from the homoeopathic library , concerning Hahnemann's work , when he practiced there including the first edition of his book "The chronic diseases".

It contains some original signatures of his daughter Charlotte, who died in Kothen in 1863. Another important exhibit is the first edition of the "Reine Arzneimittelehre" (material medica Pura), where Hahnemann included on various pages a number of additional corrections, statements and further suggestions for the second improved edition of his book. In this document one can see how he used every space on the page in his typical small handwriting often corrected even in the process of writing. It further exhibits many different editions of the Organon, among others one in French from the year 1832, the papers on defense against cholera, plus the edition of the "Kleine Medizinische Schriften" by Hahnemann's follower Ernst Stapf, published in 1829 on the occasion of Hahnemann's 50^th medical anniversary. Other items of interest are homoeopathic remedies from the time of Hahnemann as well as mother tinctures and basic substances for the production of homoeopathic remedies. W e find for example "china bark" from which Hahnemann made his first proving on himself.

Further exhibits such as Hahnemann's bed from the biedermeier period, alabaster writing tools and a collection of documents concerning homoeopathy stored by the lords of Anhalt give a lasting impression of this period. Photographs of Hahnemann and a portrait of the prince of Kothen, some old views of the town going back to the 19^th century, plus other items concerning the work of this famous homoeopath in Koethen conclude the exhibition.

The museum has always made great efforts to complete its collection of exhibits concerning homoeopathy in the time of Hahnemann, however new items offered at auction could not be acquired due to a lack of financial means.