This study examines the herbarium manuscript of Johann Brehe of Überlingen (1595), preserved at the Museum of the Broumov Region (Broumov, Czech Republic). The herbarium contains 358 dried plant specimens accompanied by watercolor illustrations and extensive German textual annotations. In this respect, the manuscript is exceptional, as few other sixteenth-century herbaria include texts beyond the plant names, and only a small number of them have been studied in a comparable depth. We analyze the textual component to identify Brehe’s sources and situate the herbarium within the broader cultural and medical context of the Lake Constance (Bodensee) region, a center of pharmacy, monastic medicine, and care of the sick. Comparative analysis demonstrates that Brehe drew primarily on Adam Lonitzer’s Kreuterbuch (1582), adapting it for the needs of his barber-surgeon practice. We further examine the texts associated with 38 plant species recommended for plague treatment. The study highlights the dynamic relationship between botanical knowledge and medicine in the late sixteenth century, offering insights into European ethnobotany and the transmission of medicinal knowledge across textual, material, and social contexts. The manuscript also demonstrates how plant preservation was integrated into medical practice outside the university milieu and embedded in late sixteenth-century book culture.
