Friedrich Hoffmann

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Friedrich Hoffmann

Friedrich Hoffmann (born February 19, 1660 in Halle (Saale) ; † November 12, 1742 ibid) was a German medic of the early enlightenment and inventor of the Hoffmann drops .

Life

The son of the doctor Friedrich Hoffmann the Elder (1626–1675) and his wife Anna Maria Knorre (1628–1675) was first taught by private teachers and then attended the Halle grammar school. Early on he showed a keen interest in medicine and chemistry (the subjects his father taught in lectures and exercises and which the twelve-year-old Friedrich was already familiar with) and acquired extensive chemical and pharmacological knowledge in his father's house. In 1675, at the age of 15, he lost both parents and his eldest sister to a "hot fever"; shortly thereafter, a fire destroyed most of his heritage, including his father's extensive library. The orphan was accepted by a maternal uncle, Friedrich Ernst Knorre. In 1678 Hoffmann began studying medicine at the University of Jena . Georg Wolfgang Wedel became his most important teacher and sponsor . He also attended lectures in mathematics and philosophy with Erhard Weigel and Johann Andreas Schmieden .

Hoffmann already distinguished himself during his studies; so he gave other students private tuition in chemistry and acted as an opponent in numerous disputations . From January to November 1680 he attended the University of Erfurt to study chemistry and pharmacology with Casper Cramer (1648–1682). After returning to Jena Wedel, he presented a treatise on suicide (De autocheiria) written at this time , as he wanted to defend it in a disputation; However, this recommended him to submit it as a dissertation to obtain the medical doctor degree. On January 31, 1681, Hoffmann held his inaugural dissertation under the chairmanship of the Electoral Saxon personal physician and professor of botany, surgery and anatomy in Jena, August Heinrich Fasch (1639–1690), and on February 5, Wedel became a doctor as dean doctorate in medicine. Shortly afterwards Hoffmann fell ill and recovered in Minden , where he was persuaded to open a practice.

Before that, however, there was the possibility of a trip to Holland , where he had contact with various doctors. To improve his knowledge, he went to England for a few months , where he made the acquaintance of Robert Boyle . After his return he became a garrison doctor in Minden in 1685 with the Zieten Regiment and in 1686 court medic and rural physician of the Principality of Minden . In 1687 he went to the Principality of Halberstadt in the same position .

This is how they became aware of him when they were looking for teachers for the newly founded Prussian University of Halle . Even before its official opening, he took up his professorship for medicine and physics on March 23, 1693 with the inaugural speech De Atheo ex artificiosissima corporis humani structura convincendo . His lectures were well attended, he drafted the statutes and the seal of the medical faculty, was dean of the medical faculty forty-eight times, five times dean of the philosophical faculty and five times (1696/97, 1706/07, 1718/19, 1728/29 and in the previous semester 1740) Vice-Rector of the University ( at that time only members of the Prussian ruling house held the title of Rector ). In his first term as Vice-Rector, he made sure that two free tables were set up for 24 children from the Duchy of Magdeburg and one free table for the Principality of Halberstadt at the University of Halle, and established the university library.

Hoffmann had been a member of the Leopoldina with the surname Democritus since 1696 , became a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in 1701, a member of the Royal Society in 1720, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1734 and in 1727 appointed Comes Palatinus by the Prince of Schwarzburg .

In 1709 Hoffmann was appointed court counselor by his sovereign Friedrich I of Prussia and appointed to Berlin as Leibmedicus . However, through envy and persecution, he fell out of favor, so that in 1712 the title of court counselor and body medicine was removed from him and he returned to Halle. From then on he was mainly active in Halle through his writings, which also include pediatric work. In 1740 he completed his life's work Medicina rationalis systematica , which he wrote with the help of his friend and student Johann Heinrich Schulze . Numerous princes consulted him about illnesses; so let Emperor Charles VI. come to Karlsbad, where he was staying for a cure, and sought his medical advice. After he was able to help Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia with an illness, he was appointed privy councilor. At the old age of 82 he died of a breast disease. His grave is on the Halle Stadtgottesacker (arch 47).

Act

Operum omnium physico-medicorum

Under Hoffmann, 300 of his students were promoted to doctors of medicine, of which 22 were personal and court physicians as well as 23 professors at German universities and 55 rural or urban physics . Philipp Adolph Böhmer was one of them, and later, like Hoffmann, several prorector of the university.

As a doctor, Hoffmann also studied witchcraft . In October 1703 the medical student Gottfried Büching received his doctorate from Hoffmann in Halle with the work De potentia diaboli in corpora . At a time when Christian Thomasius , philosophy professor in Halle, rejected the possibility of devil's alliances and advocated the abolition of witch trials, for Hoffmann the question of the reality of devils and witches was still topical and worth discussing.

In this context, reference should also be made to the disputes between Hoffmann and Georg Ernst Stahl , a former student friend from the University of Jena, who was appointed professor of medicine at the University of Halle in 1694 at Hoffmann's instigation. While Stahl taught that the rational soul itself is responsible for the unconscious movements, Hoffmann taught the self-activity of the muscles in connection with the tone of the nerves in a solidar-mechanical manner . Furthermore, Hoffmann discovered the healing springs of Bad Lauchstädt , checked the Wilhelmsbrunnen and was the mentor of the future explorer Georg Wilhelm Steller .

Teaching

The principle of movement was at the center of Hoffmann's medical considerations. He saw the human body as a kind of hydraulic machine ( iatrophysics ). This is driven and controlled by a nerve ether or nerve fluid (a "magnetic" agent standing as a concept between matter and force), whereby health is shown in a normal tension ( tone ) of the fibers, whereas disease is shown by excessive tension ( spasm ) or too weak a tension ( atony ).

The state of tension (tone) of the fibers and thus all movement processes that characterize life are controlled by this nerve fluid, which is derived from the ether that is present everywhere in the cosmos and is distributed via the nerves. The diseases are based on abnormal movements of this nerve fluid, which are sometimes too violent, sometimes too weak. Too strong contractions led to cramps in the contractile parts of the body and pain in the sensitive parts, while the lack of contraction led to atony in those parts or to insensitivity. He also counted fever and inflammation among the convulsive states.

Hoffmann's ideas about cramp and atony implied his therapeutic approach. For example, to counteract excessive contraction, on the one hand he prescribed calming agents and, on the other hand, strengthening and tone-lifting agents. He also tried to eliminate the causes of the disease. His Hoffmann drops are still known today as an old home remedy. Hoffmann has been selling these house drops under the name "Liquor anodynus" since 1706. His therapy was generally famous for its mildness, baths and simple medicines were in the foreground.

In 1716, Friedrich Hoffmann first described carbon monoxide poisoning from charcoal firing.

Honors

Bust of Prof. Friedrich Hoffmann in the rooms of the Marienbibliothek

The university town of Halle an der Saale has named a street after the inventor of the Hoffmann drops. In 2010, a sign with information about Hoffmann's work was added to the street signs as part of the Education in Passage project .

family

Hoffmann married on December 10, 1689 in Zellerfeld Anna Dorothea Manufacturing (* 1673; † September 19, 1737), the daughter of the pharmacist Andreas Manufacturing and his wife Anna Catharina Drechsler. The couple had three daughters and three sons, the two eldest of whom died shortly after birth. Two more died as young adults. Only one son and one daughter survived the parents:

  • Anna Maria (* / † 1692)
  • Friedrich Andreas (* / † 1693)
  • Johanna Dorothea (* 1694; † July 17, 1717)
  • Maria Sophia (* February 12, 1700) ⚭ December 5, 1727 Ernst Ludwig Schmaltz (* April 17, 1692; † August 7, 1756) Prussian finance, war and war. Domain council in Berlin
  • Friedrich (born August 19, 1703; † 1766), professor of medicine in Halle ⚭ December 24, 1742 Christiana Carolina Sellentin (born August 20, 1723)
  • Friedrich Ernst (born January 7, 1705 - † June 26, 1723 in Karlsbad , buried on July 1, 1723 in the Schneeberg Church of St. Wolfgang )

Fonts (selection)

  • Dissertatio Physico-Chymica experimentalis de Generatione Salium. Salfeld, Halle 1693 ( digitized version of the Saxon State Library - Dresden State and University Library ).
  • Exercitatio Physico-Medica, De Infusi Veronicae Efficacia Praeferenda Herbae Thee. Zeitler, Halae Magdeburgicae 1694 ( digitized version )
  • Friderici Hoffmanni, D. Medici Et Professoris Electoralis In Academia Fridericiana ht Decani, Propempticon Inaugurale, De Animae Ac Corporis Commercio. 1695 ( digitized version )
  • Demonstrationes Physicae Curiosae, Experimentis et Observationibus Mechanicis ac Chymicis illustratae. Zeitler, Halle 1700 ( digitized version of the Saxon State Library - Dresden State and University Library).
  • Medicina rationalis systematica . 4 volumes and the supplement De praecipuis infantum morbis . Renger, Hall 1718–1740 ( digitized in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Digital Library)
  • Thorough instruction on the benefits and uses of some of the most established medicines, such as a life balm, soothing alcohol, and balm pills. Henckel, Hall 1719 ( digitized version )
  • Medicina consultatoria, in which various consilia elaborated on some difficult cases, also contain responsa facultatis medicae, and divided into five decuria, published for the best in the public . 12 parts. Renger, Halle 1721–1739 ( digitized version of the University and State Library Düsseldorf ).
  • Observationum physico-chemicarum selectiorum libri III. Renger, Halle 1722 ( digitized version of the University and State Library Düsseldorf).
  • Thorough report of the Selter fountain, its content, concentration and strength, also, like the same, both alone and mixed with milk, to be used with benefit in various diseases. JC Hilliger, Halle 1727 ( digitized version of the University and State Library Düsseldorf).
  • Thorough instruction on how people, including students, can maintain health through a good diet and protect themselves from diseases. Magdeburg 1728.
  • Sensible teaching of the salutary provision of a child born and suckling. 2nd edition Wittenberg 1748.

Dissertations :

  • Gottlieb Ephraim Berner : Dissertatio Medica Inauguralis, exhibens salis volatilis genesin, usum et abusum in medicina . Halae Magdeburgicae 1696 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Medica Inauguralis, De Conversione Morbi Benigni In Malignum Sive Generatione Veneni In Corpore Per Imperitiam Medici. Gruner, Halae Magdeburgicae 1701 ( digitized version )
  • Praeside Dn. Fiderico Hoffmanno, Collegii Med. Ht Decano, De Remediorum Benignorum Abusu Et Noxa. Lehmann, Halae Magdeburgicae 1714 ( digitized version )
  • Friedrich Eduard von Flamberg: Dissertations Medica Inaugurali, Praxin Clinicam Et Compendiosam Morborum Ex Uteri Vitio. Zeitler, Halae Magdeburgicae 1715 ( digitized version )
  • Martin Geiger: [...] Praxin clinicam morborum infantum, pro Doctoris gradu [...]. Halae Magdeburgicae 1715; published under Hoffmann's name in his supplement volume published in 1753 to his collected works.
  • Dissertation Solennis De Morborum Causis Recte Cognoscendis. Henckel, Halae Magdeburgicae 1717 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Certo Mortis In Morbis Præsagio. Henckel, Halae Magdeburgicae 1720 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Physico-Medica De Salium Mediorum Excellente Et Purgante Virtute. Henckel, Halae Magdeburgicae 1721 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica Exhibens Præstantissimas Medendi Leges. Henckel, Halae Magdeburgicae 1719 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Mirabili Lactis Asinini In Medendo Usu. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1725 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Fonticulorum Usu Medico. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1727 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica, De Hepatis Inflammatione Vera Rarissima, Spuria Frequentissima. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1727 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Iudicio Ex Sanguine Per Venaesectionem Emisso. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1727 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Aetatis Mutatione Morborum Causa Et Remedio. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1728 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Apoplexia. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1728 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Febribus Mesentericis. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1728 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica De Recto Corticis Chinae Usu In Febribus. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1728 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Inauguralis Medica Sistens Observationes Clinicas Circa Curationem Quartanae. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1728 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertatio Medica Inauguralis De Medicis Morborum Causa. Hilliger, Halae Magdeburgicae 1728 ( digitized version )
  • Dissertationum Physico-Chymicarum. Krebsii, Halae Magdeburgicae 1729 ( digitized version )

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Hoffmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Hoffmann, Friedrich. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 609.
  2. ↑ See working group for Transylvanian cultural studies, Association for Transylvanian cultural studies: Transylvania archive. Böhlau 1901.
  3. ↑ See Wedel & Fasch & Herwig: De cancro occulto (cancer). Jena 1688.
  4. ↑ Johannes Oehme: The pediatrics of Friedrich Hoffmann with special consideration of the dissertation Praxis clinica morborum infantum (1715) by Martin Geiger. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 14, 1996, pp. 427-439.
  5. ↑ Schott, Heinz: The Chronicle of Medicine. Augsburg (1997), p. 198
  6. ^ Dörner, Klaus : Citizens and Irre . On the social history and sociology of science in psychiatry. (1969) Fischer Taschenbuch, Bücher des Wissens, Frankfurt / M 1975, ISBN 3-436-02101-6 ; Pages 62, 202
  7. ↑ Ackerknecht, Erwin H .: Brief history of psychiatry . Enke, Stuttgart 3 1985, ISBN 3-432-80043-6 ; Page 35 f.
  8. ↑ Sabine Kleine: The rapport between animal magnetism and hypnotism. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 13, 1995, pp. 299-330; here: p. 312.
  9. ↑ Francesco Paolo de Ceglia "Hoffmann and Stahl: Documents and Reflections on the Dispute". History of Universities , (22) 2007: 115-168.
  10. ↑ a b c Ralf Bröer: Friedrich Hoffmann. In: Wolfgang U. Eckart and Christoph Gradmann (eds.): Ärztelexikon. From antiquity to the present. , 3. Edition. Springer, Heidelberg 2006, p. 175, DOI: 10.1007 / 978-3-540-29585-3 .
  11. ↑ Cf. Honor for the inventor of the Hoffmannsstropfen. ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the hall forum. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.halleforum.de
  12. ↑ Stefan Borchers: "The best preparation of man for his end" - life balance and preparation for death in the funeral sermon. With an edition from Friedrich Hoffmann's family chronicle. In: Dying, Death and Living on. Ideas from the 17th century to the present. Edited by Andreas Degen, Ulrike Schneider and Ulrike Wels. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2019, pp. 49–80
  13. ^ Friedrich Hoffmann: Dissertatio exhibens, Praxis clinica morborum infantum, primum edita 1715. In: Opera omnia physico-medicorum. Supplementum sec., Pars II, Geneva 1753.
personal data
SURNAME Hoffmann, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German medic
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1660
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 1742
Place of death Halle (Saale)