Association of Osteopaths in Germany

The Verband der Osteopathen Deutschland e.V. (VOD), or Association of Osteopaths in Germany, is a German professional association (eingetragener Verein) founded in 1994 in Wiesbaden as a representative body for people working in osteopathy. It is a national umbrella association whose stated purpose is to advance the profession and the interests of osteopaths in Germany. The VOD pursues three main goals: it works for the legal recognition of the "osteopath" as an independent profession; it informs the public and raises awareness about osteopathy; and it refers osteopaths to patients. According to its own figures, the association had more than 6,900 members as of June 2025. On the European level, the VOD represents German osteopaths within the umbrella organisation Osteopathy Europe (OE). A further element of its European work is the objective of harmonising osteopathy training standards. In 2009 the VOD was admitted as a full member of the worldwide Osteopathic International Alliance (OIA). The association also has its own journal, the Deutsche Zeitschrift für Osteopathie, published four times a year by Thieme Verlag. The VOD operates a website at osteopathie.de that serves both professionals and the public. It offers information about osteopathy, its history, treatment, research, training and international developments, and provides a therapist search so that patients can find an osteopath. It also maintains a health-insurance fund list (Krankenkassenliste), quality-assurance information, continuing-education and certification services, and a members' area. The association runs a campus information service pointing to osteopathy training at more than 35 locations nationwide, and it engages in political work and press and media relations on behalf of the profession.

The Verband der Osteopathen Deutschland e.V. (VOD) was founded in 1994 in Wiesbaden as a professional representation for people working in osteopathy. It established itself as a national umbrella association (Bundesverband) with three principal aims: to work for the legal recognition of the "osteopath" as an independent profession, to inform and raise awareness about osteopathy, and to refer osteopaths to patients. The association's work is rooted in the discipline of osteopathy itself, which the VOD describes in its own historical account. According to the VOD, the American physician Dr. Andrew Taylor Still (1828–1917) developed a new understanding of health and illness in the second half of the 19th century, viewing the human being as a unity of body, mind and soul. After intensive anatomical studies, Still was convinced that the human being, as part of creation, carries within itself all the possibilities of healing. A precondition for this, in his view, was good mobility and dynamics in all areas of the body. He saw a particularly important role in the supply and disposal of tissue through blood and lymph fluid with intact nerve supply. The goal of his examination and treatment was therefore to detect restrictions of movement in the tissue with the hands alone, to remove them, and then to leave the body to its own healing with improved internal mobility. The VOD quotes Still's corresponding phrase: "Find it, fix it, leave it." Over the following decades the VOD grew into a membership organisation with several thousand members, reporting more than 6,900 members as of June 2025. It developed services for both professionals and the public, including a therapist search, a health-insurance fund list, quality-assurance information, continuing-education and certification offerings, and a members' area. It also runs a campus information service pointing to osteopathy training at more than 35 locations nationwide. On the European level, the VOD represents German osteopaths within the umbrella organisation Osteopathy Europe (OE), and it pursues the harmonisation of osteopathy training standards as part of its European work. In 2009 the VOD was admitted as a full member of the worldwide Osteopathic International Alliance (OIA). The association also publishes its own journal, the Deutsche Zeitschrift für Osteopathie, which appears four times a year with Thieme Verlag.

• 2025

  Reported more than 6,900 members as of June 2025.

• 2009

  Admitted as a full member of the worldwide Osteopathic International Alliance (OIA).

• 1994

  Founded in Wiesbaden as a professional representation for people working in osteopathy.

National professional association and advocacy body for osteopaths in Germany, combining member representation, public information and patient referral.

• Deutsche Zeitschrift für Osteopathie

  The association's own journal, published four times a year by Thieme Verlag.

• Therapeutenliste (therapist search)

  A directory that refers osteopaths to patients.

• Krankenkassenliste (health insurance fund list)

  A list relating to health insurance funds.

• Campus Osteopathie

  Information service for finding osteopathy training at more than 35 locations nationwide.

1. 1Willkommen - Verband der Osteopathen Deutschland e.V. (VOD e.V.)osteopathie.de
2. 2Geschichte der Osteopathie - Verband der Osteopathen Deutschland e.V. (VOD e.V.)osteopathie.de
3. 3Verband der Osteopathen Deutschlandwikidata.org
4. 4Verband der Osteopathen Deutschlandde.wikipedia.org