Hermann Brehmer's establishment of the first tuberculosis sanatorium at Görbersdorf in 1854 launched a global movement of mountain-air retreats designed to treat TB through rest, fresh air, and diet before the antibiotic era.

The tuberculosis sanatorium movement in Europe and North America from 1854 became a significant setting in literature, influencing works like Thomas Mann's 'The Magic Mountain' and the poetry of illness. This environment concentrated artists and intellectuals, leading to the creation of some of modernism's most important literary contributions.