Dr. med. h. c. Susanne Klein - Vogelbach

• Susanne Vogelbach (photo right), daughter of
  a medical doctor, was born on 6 October 1909 in Basel. 
• After completing her university entrance qualification,
  she trained to become an actress in Munich.
  
• After a short period on the stage, she trained to become a teacher of rhythmic gymnastics at Basel Conservatory. She was always fascinated by harmonious movements.
  
• During a six-year stay in Japan from 1940 to 1946, she cared for polio-damaged children, which brought her into contact with physiotherapy for the first time.
• After returning to Basel, she worked as a physiotherapist in the surgical department of the Kantonsspital, where she was well known for  creative, successful exercises.
• In 1955, she was commissioned to set up a new Physiotherapy School at the Kantonsspital/University Hospital of Basel. At the same time, she developed the fundamentals of Functional Kinetics in her own practice, and the abbreviation “FBL” (Funktionelle Bewegungslehre) became associated with her teaching concept.
  
• From 1970, she taught the fundamentals of the systematic observation of movement, the recognition of movement disorders and the creation of successful counteractive measures to her students and for trained physiotherapists.
• The first Functional Kinetics instructors were certified in the 1980s.
• She held countless lectures at national and international congresses and meetings.
• In 1979, the Medical Faculty of Basel University awarded her an honorary doctorate Dr. med. h.c. for her achievements in this field.
• In 1976, her first book “Klein-Vogelbach Funktionelle Bewegungslehre” was published. This book was followed by “Klein-Vogelbach Therapeutische Übungen zur Funktionellen Bewegungslehre” in 1978, “Klein-Vogelbach Ballgymnastik zur funktionellen Bewegungslehre” in 1981 and finally “Gangschulung zur funktionellen Bewegungslehre” in 1995, all of which were published in the Rehabilitation and Prevention series by Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.
• Besides publishing new books, she also revised her previous books for updated editions. The first book, for instance, now in its 6th edition, was translated after the 4th edition into English an "Functional Kinetics" was published in 1990. Therapeutic exercises in functional kinetics, now in German in its 5th edition was translated and published in English in 1991.
  
• Together with her husband Georg, in the 1990s she established the foundation “Georg und Susanne Klein-Vogelbach”.
• In 1993, she set up a research project for treatment of musicians with the FBL Klein-Vogelbach concept. “Because these high-performance acrobats generally have no lobby and tend to downplay their symptoms, and since they are usually freelancers,” she became involved in musico-medical circles, accommodating at the same time her eternal love of the stage.
• Fallowing a rewarding, active life, Susanne Klein-Vogelbach passed away in Basel on 9 November 1996 at the age of 88. · Her last dream, a book for treatment of musicians entitled “Musikinstrumente und Körperhaltung” was fulfilled and published posthumously.