The Magic Mountain—A Time Capsule of Tuberculosis Treatment in the Early Twentieth Century

The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg), a novel originally published in 1924, was instrumental in gaining its author, Thomas Mann, the Nobel Prize for literature in 1929. Ostensibly a parody of life in a pre-World War I tuberculosis sanitarium, the novel gives an accurate portrayal of European society in the early twentieth century, and reveals the conflict of philosophies and political ideals which led inexorably to war. At the same time, Mann's book precisely documents the methods of diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis available prior to the anti-tuberculous-drug era. Using The Magic Mountain as a vehicle, this paper reviews the impact of tuberculosis on Western society at the turn of the century, discusses the diagnostic techniques then in use, and considers the evolution of such treatment modalities as the sanitarium, artificial pneumothorax, and immunotherapy.