Since 1901, under Ludwig Brieger (1849 - 1919) there had been a "hydrotherapeutic institution" at the Charité. Brieger also held a chair for general therapy. As Brieger's successor, Franz Schöneberger (1865 - 1933) was appointed professor and head of the hydrotherapeutic university institution in 1920 at the suggestion of the Prießnitz Association and against the will of the faculty.
The hydrotherapeutic university institute at the Charité consisted at that time of a polyclinic with treatment rooms and a small inpatient department with 20 beds. Within nine years, 25,000 patients were treated at the polyclinic. In the bathing rooms 100 women and 50 men were treated daily. The so-called "electrical department" was visited by 56,000 sick people. In 1921 a department for Swedish remedial gymnastics and massage was founded with 4,500 treatments in 4 years.