Carl von Mettenheimer

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Carl von Mettenheimer
Memorial stone for von Mettenheimer in Graal-Müritz

Carl Friedrich Christian von Mettenheimer (born December 19, 1824 in Frankfurt am Main , † December 19, 1898 in Schwerin ) was a German physician , scientist and composer . In 1884 he opened the first children's hospital on the Baltic Sea .

Youth and education

Von Mettenheimer was born on December 19, 1824, the eldest of six sons. His parents were the merchant Theodor Mettenheimer and his wife Elisabeth, née Rasor. They came from old families in the free imperial cities of Worms and Frankfurt. He attended the model school , later the municipal high school in Frankfurt, in order to study medicine in Göttingen and Berlin from May 1, 1843 . He completed his doctorate in 1847. From 1849 on he worked for two years as an assistant doctor at the Dr. Christschen Children's Hospital in Frankfurt am Main and went on a journey to expand his knowledge. They lead him, among others, to Professor Oppolz in Vienna, where he fell ill with exanthematic fever, and to Vienna, where he studied skin and eye diseases with Hebra and Rosas . He also studied hydrology with Christian Scharfenberg at the Michelstadt Institute in the Odenwald . After a stay in casting for the Study of Pharmacognosy he went as a volunteer in the psychiatric clinic of Dr. Jacobi in Siegburg . He then moved to the von Sichel und Desmarres eye clinic in Paris . In 1850 he passed his examination in obstetrics in Heidelberg , and six years later an examination in surgical surgery .

General practitioner in Frankfurt

In 1849 he settled as a general practitioner in Frankfurt and soon afterwards joined the Senckenberg Society for Natural Research , for which he held public lectures on anatomy, histology and the natural history of invertebrates . Arthur Schopenhauer was one of his patients . In 1857 he founded the Microscopic Association and a pharmacological section of the Medical Association. In the same year he was employed in the Frankfurt supply company. The experience he gained in this municipal facility for the elderly and the infirm was incorporated into his book on diseases of the elderly, published in 1863 .

Personal physician of Friedrich Franz II.

On October 1, 1861, he was appointed personal physician to the Mecklenburg Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II in Schwerin . About this is passed down from his diaries:

"I say it with pride that I prefer a smaller intake that gives me the opportunity to develop personally and scientifically, rather than a larger one that cuts off this possibility for me"

- Carl von Mettenheimer

Von Mettenheimer planned to gradually start his new job as a personal physician. But a hunting accident of the Grand Duke on his first day at work challenged him immediately. He also had to take care of the Grand Duchess Auguste's health . In the following years he showed a deep admiration for the Grand Duke, although he made several requests to leave; Writings from the years 1868, 1872/1873 and 1876 have come down to us. The reason: Von Mettenheimer strangled with the courtly life in the royal seat in Schwerin, which was so very different from the life known to him in the enlightened Frankfurt bourgeoisie . At the same time he enjoyed the trips that took him with the Grand Duke to Bohemia , France , Russia and Switzerland . For his work, the Grand Duke awarded him the title of nobility on May 27, 1895 . In the nobility letter it says: “Our personal physician, Secret Medical Councilor Dr. Mettenheimer on the public characteristic of our most dignified recognition of the loyal attachment to us, which he has not neglected to ignore, by which he has always distinguished himself ... to rise to the Mecklenburg nobility for all future times ”.

Work in Schwerin

The city's first children 's hospital had existed in Schwerin since 1866, and from 1882 it was called the Anna Hospital in memory of the late Duchess Anna . It was approved by the Medical Council Dr. Bouchholz, the founder Ida Masius and Pastor Walther. When Bouchholz resigned from office, von Mettenheimer was named as his successor in 1876. In this role, he benefited from his experience from working in Frankfurt. Just one year after starting work, he suggested ways in which the hospital's fortunes could be increased. To this end, he suggested, for example, that if a wealthy family dies, part of the property should be transferred to the hospital. From his point of view, it was also conceivable to persuade the other tenants of the building to donate money when signing a lease.

However, its main goal was to build a new, larger building to be able to treat more children. However, he was only able to achieve this goal six years later in June 1883: A new building, carried out by the court building officer Georg Daniel for a total of 74,020.54 marks. In the period that followed, von Mettenheimer worked for the hospital for a total of 22 years. He managed to raise numerous donations from the family of the Grand Duke, so for example, a Chamberland - Pasteur-filtering apparatus to acquire, with whom he bacteria-free won for water operations.

In addition to his work as a doctor in the hospital, von Mettenheimer took care of small children. On October 8, 1844, the first day nursery was opened in Paris . Von Mettenheimer had tried in vain to find a comparable facility in Frankfurt since 1852, but was only able to open his own crèche in Schwerin on April 5, 1875 with the support of Grand Duchess Marie . Five months later, 16 children were looked after there. He tried to raise the funds for the facility through public letters.

Work in Graal-Müritz

Listed area of ​​today's clinic in Graal-Müritz

While traveling together with the Grand Duke, von Mettenheimer learned about the climatic effects of the Baltic Sea in Saint Petersburg . The Grand Duchess Katharina Mikhailovna Romanova founded a sanatorium for sick children there in 1870. In 1880 von Mettenheimer chose the municipality of Müritz (since 1938 today's municipality of Graal-Müritz ) for his own experiment.

He was convinced that not only the North Sea, but also the Baltic Sea has a beneficial influence on respiratory diseases . The place seemed particularly suitable to him, as the large forest (the Rostock Heath ) “provides welcome protection against the land wind and against too strong, too rough sea winds, which is for people who are prone to colds and have irritable chest organs, for the weak and Eye patients is particularly pleasant and charitable ”. On July 1, 1880, he brought eight children suffering from consumption to the community's first hotel, Haus Anastasia . There he rented four hotel rooms at his own expense.

He found that the maritime climate had the hoped-for positive effect on the children's recovery. On June 15, 1884, von Mettenheimer built a sanatorium, the Friedrich-Franz-Hospiz , with financial support from the Grand Duke , which at first could only be used in the summer months due to the lack of heating. In doing so, he laid the foundation for the children's spa on the Baltic Sea. In addition to the Warmbad (today's local history museum), it was the only building in which water was pumped from the Baltic Sea and heated so that guests could bathe in it. Nine years later there were two houses on the property with 60 to 80 beds for boys and girls.

Today's Tannenhof children's sanatorium in Graal-Müritz

The site has been used as the Tannenhof children's sanatorium since 1935 .

Von Mettenheimer as a composer

Von Mettenheimer grew up in a musical family. His mother was a student of Aloys Schmitt . He played the piano and was a member of the Choir of the Cecilia Society at the time of Franz Messer, who in turn was a student of the founder Johann Nepomuk Schelble . In 1844 he met Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and in 1860 took lessons from the director of the Schwerin Castle Choir, Otto Kade . Von Mettenheimer created around 150 of his own compositions in the course of his life . His appreciation for the Grand Duke became clear, in whose honor he had a specially composed cantata performed on February 28, 1885 in the Neustadtisches Palais . His works “Das Familienfest” or the cantata “Der Kelch des Suffering” were performed at the court in Schwerin, for example.

Honors

In Graal-Müritz there has been a memorial stone for Mettenheimer on the grounds of the children's sanatorium he founded since July 19, 1899. In addition, the community has named a path after him in his memory, the Doktor-Mettenheimer-Weg .

Schwerin honored his doctor with a special exhibition that took place from November 11, 1993 to March 13, 1994 in the State Museum of Schwerin . The trigger was a research by his granddaughter, who lives in Frankfurt, who came to Schwerin after the fall of the Wall to look for traces of her grandfather. It also became known that Mettenheimer lived for a while at Großer Moor 38 - this is now the seat of the Historical Museum.

Mettenheimer was the recipient of numerous orders and awards. In 1893 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina . The Frankfurt City and University Library honored him in 1985 with a special exhibition. His estate is in the Institute for City History , his grave in the Frankfurt main cemetery .

Publications (selection)

  • About the structure and life of some invertebrates from the German seas. In: Abhandl. The Senckenberg. natural research. Society in Frankfurt am Main. Volume I, Plate I ,. Fig. 119, pp. 1-18.
  • Description of a Cystosarcoma phyllodes Mammae. In: Müller's archive. 1850, p. 207. Plate IV, 13
  • About hydrochloric acid, as a means of discovering the contamination of the blood with carbonate of ammonia. In: Arch. F. working together. Volume I. Issue 4, p. 605.
  • About some of the effects of atropine. Memorabilia. VI. December 28 1862.
  • Description of the Frisian island of Amrum. In: Jahrb. D. geographer. Society in Berlin. 1845.
  • About duck fishing on the North Frisian Islands. Lecture in d. Senckenberg. natural science. Society. April 2, 1851. Ged. abroad. No. 51, p. 1223, 1853.
  • Guyétant, nouvelles considération sur la longévité humaine. In: Schmidt's Jahrb. Volume 124. No. 10, p. 138.

Compositions (selection)

  • Quartet for two violins, viola and cello. Kindly suited to his goal trick. (Allegro viv. C. Minor, Capricio (Presto) in F minor, Larghetto in F minor, Finale: Introduction Andante agitato, B minor, Allegro molto in C minor) Score 1844/45.
  • Piece for piano (2 hands) in B minor Göttingen, April 5, 1844.
  • O don't cry my heart, for singing voice and Clavier, in E flat major, Prague, January 1848.
  • Listen, oh God, my fearful pleading, for voice and piano, Frankfurt am Main, June 1850.
  • Rheinweinlied (Herwegh), for men's quartet, c major, December 1853.

Individual evidence

  1. a b Ursula Dannenberger and others: Graal-Müritz. 1st edition. 1994, Verlag Ruth Gerig, Königstein / Ts.
  2. a b Senckenbergische Bibliothek (ed.): Carl von Mettenheimer 1st edition. 1985, Frankfurt am Main, Senckenbergische Bibliothek of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.
  3. ^ Mettenheimer's diary, 1861, quoted from Heinrich von Mettenheim, one of his sons from Carl von Mettenheimer (1824–1898): Becoming, wanting and working of an old doctor in letters and writings , Frankfurt am Main, 1985, p. 173.
  4. a b c d e Historisches Museum Schwerin (ed.): Carl von Mettenheimer - a Schwerin doctor in the 19th century. 1st edition. 1993, Volume 2, Senckenberg Library of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Schwerin.
  5. ^ Letter of nobility dated May 27, 1895 to the personal physician secret Medicinalrath Dr. Mettenheimer. Mettenheimer's estate, private property.
  6. Carl von Mettenheimer: Annual medical report on the Schwerin Children's Hospital for the period from October 1, 1876 to October 1, 1877. Schwerin 1877, p. 8.
  7. LKA, inventory of Oberkirchenrat specialia, Schwerin, Anna-Hospital, Bund I.
  8. Carl von Mettenheimer: Instructions for using the Friedrich-Franz-Hospice in Groß-Müritz. Schwerin 1889, p. 3f.
  9. ^ Community Graal-Müritz, building authority and society for urban renewal and local development Mecklenburg mbH (GSOM), trustee redevelopment agency of the community Graal-Müritz: Graal-Müritz: Urban renewal and urban development in the course of time. 1st edition. Publisher Norbert Böttcher, Berlin 2003.
  10. ^ Joachim Puttkamer: Graal-Müritz - Pearl on the Sea 1st edition. 2005, Geiger publishing house, Horb am Neckar.

literature

  • Historisches Museum Schwerin (ed.): Carl von Mettenheimer - a Schwerin doctor in the 19th century . 1st edition. tape 2 . Senckenbergisches Library of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Schwerin 1993.
  • Senckenbergische Bibliothek (ed.): Carl von Mettenheimer . 1st edition. Senckenbergische Bibliothek, Frankfurt am Main 1985.
  • Wolfgang Klötzer (Hrsg.): Frankfurter Biographie . Personal history lexicon . Second volume. M – Z (=  publications of the Frankfurt Historical Commission . Volume XIX , no. 2 ). Waldemar Kramer, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-7829-0459-1 , p. 46-47 .
  • Ursula Dannenberger u. a .: Graal-Müritz . 1st edition. Ruth Gerig, Königstein / Ts 1994, ISBN 3-928275-36-4 .
  • Municipality of Graal-Müritz, building authority and society for urban renewal and local development Mecklenburg mbH (GSOM), trustee redevelopment agency of the municipality of Graal-Müritz: Graal-Müritz: Urban renewal and urban development in the course of time . 1st edition. Norbert Böttcher, Berlin 2003.
  • Joachim Puttkamer: Graal-Müritz - pearl by the sea . 1st edition. Geiger-Verlag, Horb am Neckar 2005, ISBN 3-86595-005-1 .
  • Julius PagelMettenheimer, Karl Friedrich Christian von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 52, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1906, p. 330 f.

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