Christian Andreas Cothenius

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Christian Andreas Cothenius, portrayed by Anna Dorothea Therbusch (1777)

Christian Andreas Friedrich Cothenius , also: von Cothenius (* February 14, 1708 in Anklam ; † January 5, 1789 in Berlin ) was a German doctor and a capacity for medicine and the reorganization of the hospital system.

Life

Christian Andreas Cothenius was the youngest child of the regiment archer Eberhard Wolfgang Coth (Cothenius) and his wife Elisabeth, née. Kehvell, born. His birth town, Anklam , was part of Swedish Pomerania at the time .

Cothenius attended the city school in Anklam , later the schools in Stettin and Stralsund . With these school changes he followed his teacher Christoph Pyl (1678–1739). From 1728 he studied medicine at the University of Halle . In 1732 he acquired his doctorate and after he received his license to practice medicine "with praise" in 1737, he was employed as a city ​​physician in Havelberg in 1738 . His scientific knowledge, his personal charisma and his tireless diligence made him a sought-after specialist who was constantly on the move in the Altmark , Magdeburg or Mecklenburg . Word of this restless work and his medical achievements got around, and when the Mecklenburg court offered Cothenius a position as a personal physician, King Friedrich II saw the time had come and in 1748 appointed him court doctor and city physicist in Potsdam , ordinary doctor at the large military orphanage and physicist two counties.

The treatment of many members of the royal court and other princes and princes earned him many titles and other princely commendations. Between 1756 and 1763, during the Seven Years' War , he worked as the chief military doctor and organized an exemplary order in the hitherto extremely inadequate hospital system. At the time of the siege of Prague there was suddenly no hospital for the mentally ill. Cothenius, suffering from a fever and actually bedridden, replied in a letter to King Frederick II:

“I hope to be able to set up a hospital of 1,000 men in three days; and within 12-14 days allda 2000 should find your necessary supplies. "

After the Battle of Leuthen there were not only many wounded (Prussians and Austrians), but also many soldiers were sick with typhus . The existing field pharmacies were empty and it was only through Cothenius' personal commitment that it was possible to obtain appropriate remedies and medication on a larger scale from Dresden. Cothenius had the field pharmacies replenished and also added a laboratory assistant to each field pharmacy so that the necessary medicines could also be produced himself if required. The General Staff Medic has developed over 100 recipes for the pharmacies and provided the laboratory technicians with essential help for their work.

After the peace agreement, the king called him to Berlin. The task here was to redesign the completely disordered court pharmacy. He also monitored the city's hospitals and the Charité . In his own practice he treated the poor people of the people every day with the same personal commitment as he has done so far for the members of the court and the nobility. A statement by the personal physician Friedrich II. Moehsen:

“The constant visits to the sick had become such a habit for him (Dr. Cothenius), almost a passion, that he did not find himself happy, as though he could be useful to many people in need. Everyone and every poor and needy person had free access to him every day, and he was at their side with advice and action until the last days of his life. "

Although he had already reached the age of 80, he was still working tirelessly. However, a few younger doctors were now on hand to help him, as his eyesight deteriorated noticeably. On January 5, 1789 at noon, Cothenius died of old age after only a few days of illness. He was buried in Cemetery I of the Jerusalem and New Churches in front of the Hallesches Tor . The grave has not been preserved.

The academy in Berlin and the university in Halle received the extensive fortune, books and its scientific collection. He also made financial donations for the city school of his hometown Anklam. As a member and XIII. Director of the Academy's ephemeris, he bequeathed 1000 thalers in gold to her in his will with the determination that the interest should be paid every two years to the award of a gold medal of 60 thalers adorned with the image of the founder courant for the best processing of a prize question from the field of practical medicine to use. The dies for the medal were made by Cothenius while he was still alive.

The Cothenius Medal of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina , of which he was a member since 1743, is named after him.

literature

Web links

Commons : Christian Andreas Cothenius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Redder man: Christian Andreas Cothenius. In: The Pommersche Zeitung. No. 25/2008, p. 2.
  2. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin burial places . Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86514-206-1 , p. 212.
personal data
SURNAME Cothenius, Christian Andreas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cothenius, Christian Andreas Friedrich (full name); Cothenius, Christian Andreas von; Cothenius, Christian Andreas Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German doctor
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1708
PLACE OF BIRTH Anklam
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1789
Place of death Berlin