Helmut Bauer (neurologist)

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Helmut Johannes Bauer (born March 31, 1914 in Klingenberg ; † January 16, 2008 ) was a German physician . From 1941 he was a voluntary member of the Waffen SS and “active in the context of the war of extermination”. After the Second World War he was an internationally renowned neurologist and multiple sclerosis researcher and the mentor of German multiple sclerosis research.

Life

Bauer, who grew up in Transylvania , emigrated to Ohio with his family in 1922 . After attending school and college, he returned to Germany in 1932 and studied medicine at the Charité of the Humboldt University in Berlin . In 1939 he was promoted to Dr. med. PhD . In 1940 he applied for German citizenship and gave up American citizenship. He volunteered in the Waffen SS in 1941 and was an SS officer in the Künsberg Sonderkommando . He was promoted to Hauptsturmführer .

After the Second World War and his imprisonment, Bauer initially worked in Hamm , and from 1947 at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf for specialist training. In 1955 he completed his habilitation on the introduction of electrophoresis into CSF diagnostics and the identity of CSF proteins with the protein bodies of the blood for neurology .

After a visiting professor in Ohio followed in 1963 call to the chair of neurology and head of the Department of Neurology at the Georg-August University of Goettingen . He was committed to expanding neurochemistry , setting up a neurochemical laboratory in 1964 and a neurological intensive care unit in 1967. From 1968 to 1969 he was the dean of the medical faculty . In 1980 he retired .

Act

His main field of work was the area of ​​multiple sclerosis; he made a name for himself internationally. He was supported by the funding program Biomedical Technology of the VW Foundation and at the DFG focus on multiple sclerosis. Together with Folker Hanefeld , he discovered that multiple sclerosis already occurs in children.

In addition to many offices, he was one of the founding members of the Commission for Neurochemistry of the World Federation of Neurology in 1959 . Among other things, he was President of the German Society for Neurology (DGN), honorary member of the British and French Societies for Neurology and a corresponding member of the American Neurological Society. He was honored with the honorary presidency of the DGN for his commitment.

Bauer is also the namesake of the "Helmut Bauer Young Talent Award for Multiple Sclerosis Research" established by the University of Göttingen in 2003. In honor of his 90th birthday, an international symposium was held in 2004 to open the Institute for Multiple Sclerosis Research in Göttingen.

According to more recent scientific findings on Bauer's Nazi past, the University of Göttingen distanced itself from its former employee in January 2020, decided to no longer award the prize and to inform the previous winners and to rename them to "Young Talent Award for Multiple Sclerosis Research Göttingen" to offer. She was referring to the Geneva Vow and the Helsinki Declaration .

literature

  • Heidi Niemann: The SS Past of a Renowned Researcher. Study proves involvement in the Nazi regime of the Göttingen neurologist Helmut J. Bauer , In: Harz Kurier , Harz Kurier Verlag Osterode am Harz, September 26, 2019.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Press release of the University of Göttingen , in Welt Online on January 27, 2020, accessed on January 27, 2020
  2. ↑ a b Professor Dr. Helmut Bauer has passed away , Science Information Service, January 18, 2008.
  3. ↑ The two lives of the former top physician Helmut J. Bauer in: HNA online on September 26, 2019, accessed on January 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Mathias Schmidt, Jens Westermeier and Dominik Groß : Renowned MS specialist and National Socialist: The two lives of neurologist Helmut J. Bauer (1914–2008) , In: Neurology , 93 (3), July 16, 2019.
  5. ↑ Heidi Niemann: Göttingen university professor was involved in Nazi raids as an SS officer . Göttinger Tageblatt (online) from September 25, 2019, accessed on October 25, 2019.
  6. ^ Opening of the first "Institute for MS Research" in Germany . University of Göttingen, March 31, 2004
  7. ↑ New historical findings on Prof. Dr. Helmut Bauer Universitätsmedizin Göttingen New historical findings on Prof. Dr. Helmut Bauer January 27, 2020, accessed on January 27, 2020.


personal data
SURNAME Bauer, Helmut
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bauer, Helmut Johannes (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German neurologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Klingenberg
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 2008
Place of death Goettingen