Women’s History Month: Boulder woman opens first herbal market
Hanna Kroeger, New Age Foods, 1122 Pearl Street
Hanna U. Kroeger was a vendor of health food and alternative medicine products in the U.S. She operated a variety of businesses, including a health food store, restaurant, and wholesale herb business in Boulder, Colorado, between 1957 and her death in 1998 at the age of 84 years.
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Born in Turkey to German missionary parents, Kroeger was taught from an early age the benefits of herbal medicine and the importance of helping the less fortunate.
Hanna arrived in Boulder in 1956 with her husband Rudolph, a medical engineer and WWII prison camp survivor. Shortly after their arrival, Hanna opened her store, New Age Foods, at 1122 Pearl Street (now operating as Hanna’s Herb Shop). The store carried everything from healing teas and vitamins to baked goods, seeds, nuts, raisins, and oils.
Kroeger also started the Kroeger Herb Wholesale Product Company (still operating as Kroeger Herb Products Co., Inc.) that sold hundreds of lines of herbs and homeopathic treatments carried in stores all over the world. Kroeger is credited with developing over 200 homeopathic remedies and is the author of over 20 books, mostly dealing with herbal therapies that she largely obtained from traditional European and Native American teachings.
On April 16, 1971, Kroeger was indicted on 11 counts of practicing medicine without a license after being investigated by undercover Pinkerton agents hired by the State Board of Medical Examiners. Boulder District Attorney Stanley Johnson claimed she received compensation for treating patients without the required qualifications. Kroeger and her followers felt that the DA had targeted her unjustly because she was an immigrant who sold primarily to “hippie” customers.
Protesters gathered outside the Boulder County Courthouse with signs stating, “Natural Healing is Not Quackery,” “Suggesting Good Food is Not Practicing Medicine,” “Herbs and Vitamins are Not Drugs,” among others. The case was dismissed in May 1972 after Kroeger agreed to stop giving medical advice.
………….Museum of Boulder, March 2024
From the Kroeger Herb Products web site:
As a young woman, she attended nursing school at the University of Freiburg in Germany. Later, she assisted at a large hospital in Dresden which primarily used natural healing methods. It was in hospital that she began to discover many amazing ways to restore health using herbs.
As a young woman, she attended nursing school at the University of Freiburg in Germany. Later, she assisted at a large hospital in Dresden which primarily used natural healing methods. It was in hospital that she began to discover many amazing ways to restore health using herbs.
From her small shop in Boulder, Colorado, Hanna shared her mastery of the restorative powers of European and American herbs. In 1978, with the demand for her herbal formulas becoming too great to meet using just her kitchen, Hanna started Kroeger Herb Products. Over the years, Kroeger Herb Products has grown to distribute Hanna’s products internationally.