Georg Schaltbrand

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Georg Schaltbrand or Georges Schaltbrand (born November 26, 1897 in Oberhausen ; † October 24, 1979 in Würzburg ) was a German neurologist who carried out experiments on the mentally handicapped during the National Socialist era .

Life

Studies and first years of employment

Georg Schaltbrand passed his matriculation examination in 1916 at the Oberrealschule in Kattowitz (Upper Silesia) and studied medicine in Breslau, Göttingen, Munich and Hamburg, where he received his doctorate in 1923. In the 1920s he researched the possibility of treating symptoms of Parkinson's disease using the alkaloid bulbocapnin obtained from the larkspur plant . In 1926/27 he learned the technique of neurosurgery ( liquor circulation ) in Boston and in 1928 went to the Rockefeller University in Beijing for further training . In 1930 he became a senior physician at Max Nonne and ao. Prof. in Hamburg at the University Psychiatric Clinic and at the Air Research Institute in Hamburg . From 1934 he worked at the Internal and Mental Clinic of the University of Würzburg . Here he built up the neurological department, of which he became head in 1935, and devoted himself primarily to the development of stereotaxic medicine . In 1937 he received the chair for neurology. In 1941 he became a member of the Leopoldina .

time of the nationalsocialism

Schaltbrand was a member of the " Stahlhelm ". During the National Socialist era , on November 11, 1933, he signed the professors' commitment to Adolf Hitler at German universities and colleges . He was a member of the National Socialist Medical Association and the National Socialist People's Welfare Association and joined the NSDAP in 1937 . As Obersturmführer he was also a member of the Nazi Fliegerkorps .

Schaltbrand carried out experiments on people at the psychiatric clinic in Werneck , district of Schweinfurt , in the spring / summer of 1940 : He considered multiple sclerosis to be an infectious disease , which is why he transferred cerebrospinal fluid ( cerebrospinal fluid ) from people with MS to monkeys. Assuming that this had produced some form of MS, he then re- injected the monkeys' liquor into patients. Schaltbrand commented on the selection of his test subjects:

“Nevertheless, of course, one cannot expect a healthy person or a sick person to attempt this. But I do believe that I can bear the responsibility to make such experiments on people who suffer from an incurable, complete stupidity. "

- Georg Schaltbrand : The Multiple Sclerosis of Humans , 1943

These experiments, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), did not end until the Werneck patients were transported away for destruction in October 1940.

After 1945

Schaltbrand lost his position as head of the clinic in Würzburg at the end of the war because of these medical experiments on people . However, he was soon rehabilitated by his colleague Josef Schorn , head of the neurological department of the psychiatry in Regensburg in 1948 , and Viktor von Weizsäcker's senior report , and he was able to continue his research in 1950.

"When Schaltbrand carried out experiments on living people, he did so for healing purposes, taking into account the most modern scientific methods."

- Josef Schorn : Statement on the rehabilitation of Schaltbrands

Later professional years

Schaltbrand was chairman of the German Society for Neurology from 1953 to 1954 , and in 1967 even its honorary chairman. In 1953 he took over the chairmanship of the medical advisory board of the "German Multiple Sclerosis Society" . He also worked at the Neurological Department of the Peking Union Medical School in the People's Republic of China .

In 1969, Schaltbrand retired. He died on October 24, 1979 in Würzburg.

He was honored with a bust in the head clinic of the Würzburg University Hospital . The university only removed them in 1996.

Work-up

In the ARD documentary "Doctors Without a Conscience" 1996, Schaltbrand's activities were also highlighted. In retrospect, Schaltbrand always portrayed himself personally as an opponent of the National Socialists, his son-in-law Alf Mintzel reported later .

Honors

  • Röntgen Prize of the University of Würzburg (1943)
  • Wilhelm-Erb commemorative coin of the German Society for Neurology (1954)
  • Honorary Chairman of the German Society for Neurology (1967)
  • Honorary member of the Association of German Neuropathologists

Fonts

  • Studies on parkinsonism and hyoscine effects. In: Psychological work. Vol. 8 (1925), pp. 564-567 (dissertation, University of Hamburg, 1923).
  • Preface to the book by Percival Bailey : Die cerebral tumors. Translated into German by Dr. Arnold Weiss. Enke, Stuttgart 1936 (reprint 1951).
  • Generation of extrapyramidal movement disorders by bulbokapnin in monkeys. 1938 (university film, produced for the Reichsstelle for educational film ).
  • Multiple sclerosis in humans. Thieme, Leipzig 1943.
  • Neurology. 3 parts. Dieterich, Wiesbaden 1948.
  • Limits of the machine theory of the nervous system. In: Studium Generale. Vol. 8 (1955), H. 8, pp. 515-526.
  • Germany between yesterday and tomorrow. Richter, Würzburg [1957].
  • ed. with Percival Bailey: Introduction to stereotactic operations with an atlas of the human brain. Introduction to stereotaxis with an atlas of the human brain. 3 volumes. Thieme, Stuttgart 1959.
    • Volume 1: 2., revised and enlarged edition: ed. with A. Earl Walker: Stereotaxy of the Human Brain. Anatomical, Physiological and Clinical applications. Thieme, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-13-583202-3 .
    • Volume 2: 2., revised and enlarged edition: with Waldemar Wahren: Atlas for Stereotaxy of the Human Brain. With an Accompanying Guide. Thieme, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-13-393702-2 .
  • Time from a neurologist's point of view. Enke, Stuttgart 1963.
  • Special neurological examination methods. Thieme, Stuttgart 1968.

literature

  • Hans Bammer: Prof. Dr. med. Georges Schaltbran on his 70th birthday. In: Bayerisches Ärzteblatt. Volume 22, 1967, pp. 982 and 987.
  • Werner E. Gerabek :  Schaltbrand, Georg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , pp. 555 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Ernst Klee : Auschwitz, Nazi medicine and its victims. Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-596-14906-1 .
  • Ernst Klee: Georg Schaltbrand. In: Ernst Klee: The personal dictionary for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945 . Updated edition. Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0 .
  • Thomas Schmelter, Christine Meesmann, Gisela Walter, Herwig Praxl: Werneck sanatorium and nursing home. In: Michael von Cranach , Hans-Ludwig Siemen (ed.): Psychiatry in National Socialism. The Bavarian sanatoriums and nursing homes between 1933 and 1945. Oldenbourg, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-486-56371-8 , pp. 35–54.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Nazi murders of the disabled: Time does not heal everything. In: mainpost.de. October 29, 2014, accessed November 9, 2016 .
  2. ^ Paul Foley: Beans, roots and leaves: A brief history of the pharmacological therapy of parkinsonism. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 22, 2003, pp. 215-234, here: pp. 221 f.
  3. ↑ Ernst Klee: Auschwitz, Nazi medicine and its victims. 2001, p. 70, A. 48.
  4. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee: 25 Years of “Euthanasia” Research - Historical Knowledge and Responsibility Today . Lecture at the 5th Alsterdorfer Fachforum on May 8, 2001 (the PDF file; 71 kB), p. 4
  5. ↑ Ernst Klee: Auschwitz, Nazi medicine and its victims. 2001, pp. 70–77, and Ernst Klee: Personenlexikon. 2001 (see literature).
  6. ↑ DGN Chronicle. In: dgn.org. Retrieved November 9, 2016 .
  7. ↑ http://www.prof-dr-alf-mintzel.de/blog/2017/04/06/43-die-langen-schatten-der-ns-zeit-die-t4-aktion-und-das-schaltbrand -experiment/
personal data
SURNAME Switching brand, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schaltbrand, Georges
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German neurologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberhausen
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1979
Place of death Wurzburg