Christian Bruhn (oral surgeon)

Christian Bruhn, oil painting by Franz Kiederich 1934

Christian Nis Nicolaus Bruhn (born January 9, 1868 in Segeberg ; † August 27, 1942 in Düsseldorf ) was a German dentist . He founded the West German jaw clinic .

Life

Orphaned as the son of a mountain inspector at the age of four , Bruhn came to live with a pastor's uncle . At the age of ten he was given to educational institutions in Wallsbüll and Berlin . From 1881 on he attended several higher schools in Plön , Hamburg and Goslar . After graduating from high school, he studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin , the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München . In 1888 he became a member of the Corps Makaria Würzburg with Gustav Drehmann .

Bruhn received his practical training from an American dentist in Darmstadt . On his advice, he opened a dental practice in Düsseldorf in the spring of 1891 . It was very popular and Bruhn became the most sought-after dentist in town. When the board of trustees of the Düsseldorf Academy for Practical Medicine had set up a lectureship in dentistry, it was given to Bruhn on July 10, 1908. Since January 12, 1911 Professor , Bruhn devoted himself mainly to diseases and injuries of the jaw . Not inexperienced due to accidents in Rhenish heavy industry, he foresaw complex head injuries in future wars. He therefore discussed the consequences for medical care with surgeons . At the beginning of the First World War , he made his practice houses on Sternstrasse near the Hofgarten available as a private hospital . With him as chief physician , it was transferred to the Royal Reserve Hospital I Düsseldorf in 1914 and expanded to include the Mannesmann House and municipal houses. At the end of the war, the "military hospital" had six departments with 682 beds. More than twice the size of its Berlin counterpart, it was by far the largest dental clinic that has ever existed.

Christian Bruhn, oil painting by Otto H. Engel 1931

West German jaw clinic

In 1917, Bruhn founded the West German Kieferklinik , which was supposed to secure the hospital for patient care after the war and to promote research and teaching in dentistry, oral medicine and maxillofacial medicine . After the renovation, the West German jaw clinic had around 100 beds. In 1920 twelve doctors and dentists worked there under Bruhn's direction, including Adolf Klughardt . Carl Kukulies headed the dental department, August Lindemann the surgical department. In the summer semester of 1921, lectures for resident doctors and dentists began in the new lecture hall . The West German jaw clinic quickly achieved international renown. When the jealousies of the established colleagues had been overcome, the West German Kieferklinik was taken over by the city of Düsseldorf on September 1, 1923 and incorporated into the "new" Medical Academy. In July 1924 Bruhn was appointed full professor . After years of quarrels and the involvement of the Prussian Ministry of Culture, he obtained the approval of Lindemann's habilitation , the first in Germany for maxillofacial surgery. 1934 Emeritus , Bruhn died at 74 years. The air raids on Dusseldorf he did not live and the destruction of his clinic more.

Works

• "And the work helped us!" Pictures from the Düsseldorf hospital for jaw injuries. A. Bagel, Düsseldorf 1915.
• “And when the trumpets sound.” Personal experiences from the war tell of the wounded in the Düsseldorf jaw hospital. A. Bagel, Düsseldorf 1915.
• Report on a two-year activity of the Düsseldorf hospital for jaw injuries. August 15, 1914 - August 15, 1916. Bergmann, Wiesbaden 1916.
• Contribution to the handbook of dentistry :
  • Volume 1: Surgical diseases of the oral cavity, teeth and jaw. Bergmann, Wiesbaden 1917.
  • Volume 2: Conservative Dentistry. Bergmann, Wiesbaden 1925.
  • Volume 3: Dental Prosthetics. Bergmann, Wiesbaden 1926.
  • Volume 4: Denture, jaw and facial orthopedics Bergmann, Wiesbaden 1939.
• German dentistry. Special issue in honor of Christian Bruhn. G. Thieme, Leipzig 1928.

literature

• Reichs Handbuch der Deutschen Gesellschaft - The handbook of personalities in words and pictures . First volume, Deutscher Wirtschaftsverlag, Berlin 1930, ISBN 3-598-30664-4
• Suse-Marie Mayer: Prof. Dr. med. dent. hc Christian Bruhn u. the establishment of the West German jaw clinic. (= Düsseldorf work on the history of medicine , 23).

Web links

Wikisource: Christian Bruhn  - Sources and full texts

• History of the West German jaw clinic: military hospital for soldiers with jaw injuries
• Düsseldorf military hospital for jaw injuries 1914–1918 - the birthplace of maxillofacial surgery

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kösener corps lists 1910, 206/97
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} History of the Westdeutsche Kieferklinik ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ^ Sternstrasse 29, 31, 33, owner Bruhn, Christian, professor, dentist , in address book for the city of Düsseldorf, 1914, p. 356
4. ↑ Photo illustration: From the Düsseldorf hospital for jaw injuries. Seriously wounded in the garden of the private clinic of Professor Dr. Bruhn , in Rhein and Düssel (No. 25), from June 20, 1915