This was not the first time the Pick/Howorth family had visited Bad Kissingen, the town where their grandfather/great-grandfather had opened the renowned Pick Sanatorium in Kurhausstraße in 1909, which was owned by the family until the beginning of the Nazi era. It was an internationally recognised sanatorium for cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases, nervous disorders as well as metabolic and eating disorders. As head physician, Dr Pick was responsible for the medical management of the sanatorium and his wife Bertha took over the management of the house and the kitchen. The sanatorium was one of the most modern and attractive health resorts in our town and enjoyed great international recognition. However, with the global economic crisis of 1929 and the rise of anti-Semitism, Jewish spa guests in particular increasingly stayed away, so that the house ran into financial difficulties and was foreclosed in 1934. Even though the Picks were assimilated Jews who had already converted to the Christian faith decades earlier, this did not protect them from the racial mania of the National Socialists. In order to survive, they had to leave Germany. Arthur Pick, his wife and their two children emigrated to England, which became their new home.
In mid-October 2024, Dr Arthur Pick's grandchildren Diana Howorth, née Pick, and Robert Pick came with their children for a short visit to Bad Kissingen, the town where their father Werner Rolf Pick was born in 1913. They now all have German citizenship.
The family - guided by Marlies and Rudolf Walter and Anna Maria Boll from the cultural department of the town of Bad Kissingen - were very interested to see the sights of our spa town, but the emotional highlight for them was certainly the walk to the ‘Sanatorium Pick’. Even though the building is now unfortunately in a deplorable state and it was not possible to enter due to its dilapidated condition, the exterior façade still gives an idea of the splendour of the building's past. It would be in the family's best interests if the city could find an investor for the building who would renovate this former gem before it deteriorates any further.
Robert Pick had brought along several photo albums of his family, especially from the time when the family lived in Bad Kissingen. They also contain photos that are interesting in terms of the town's history, for example of the former Saale swimming pool, class photos from the Kissingen Reaschule and photos of the interior of the sanatorium. Robert's father, Werner Rolf Pick, has meticulously and carefully collected and preserved these family treasures. He has also repeatedly written essays with a family background and his personal ‘memoirs’, which reflect the extraordinary history of his family.
You can find more details and photos from the family album in our short biographies of the family:

Pick, Arthur

Pick, Bertha

Pick, Vera Ruth

Pick, Werner Rolf Theodor