Hermann Holthusen

Hermann Georg Holthusen (born September 22, 1886 in Hamburg ; † May 7, 1971 there ) was a radiologist and professor at the University of Hamburg .

Career and work

As the son of Gottfried Holthusen, Holthusen grew up in Hamburg and successfully attended the Johanneum School of Academics . He studied medicine in Heidelberg , Berlin and Munich. During his studies in Heidelberg, Holthusen became a member of the Rupertia zu Heidelberg association . In 1911 he received his doctorate in Heidelberg and, interrupted by his participation in the war from 1914 to 1918, he was an assistant doctor until 1921. In 1920 he completed his habilitation and from 1922 he taught in Hamburg and became an associate professor in 1924, and a full professor in 1939, was senior physician in charge, then chief physician of the radiological department of the St. Georg General Hospital in Hamburg. In the last few years before his retirement (1957) he managed the hospital as its medical director.

In the era of National Socialism , he was according to the documents of the Reich Medical Association not a member of the Nazi party , was one but at least 1934 to 1936 the Nazi Teachers' Association , and in 1937 joined the Nazi Dozentenbund at. He was authorized to use radiation for sterilization . In 1944 he was appointed to the scientific advisory board of the General Commissioner for Sanitary and Health Care Karl Brandt .

Bronze grave slab in the Ohlsdorf cemetery

Holthusen's scientific achievement consisted in measuring the dose of X-ray radiation so that radiation damage in radiation therapy , for example in the fight against cancer , was largely avoided. In 1955 he was appointed permanent honorary chairman of the German Roentgen Society .

Holthusen had been married to Agnes Weizsäcker (1896–1990), the daughter of Heinrich Weizsäcker , professor of art history, since 1919 ; the couple had three sons, including Johannes Holthusen . Holthusen is the only radiologist who is documented to have x -rayed Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen . At Holthusen he saw an "X-ray cabinet" from the inside for the first time.

Hermann Holthusen was buried on the grave site of his family in the Ohlsdorf cemetery southwest of Nordteich (grid square Y11).

plant

• H. Holthusen and G. Braun: Basics and practice of X-ray dosing, dose measurement and the like. Dose setting. Thieme, Stuttgart, 1933.
• GF Haenisch, H. Holthusen: Introduction to Radiology , 5th edition. Thieme, Stuttgart 1955.
• Hans R. Schinz, H. Holthusen (Ed.): Radiation biology, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine and cancer research. Vol. 1. Thieme, Stuttgart, 1959.

Awards

• President of the German Radiological Society (1930 and 1949)
• X-ray plaque of the city of Remscheid (1954)
• Large Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany (1957)
• Medal for Art and Science of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (1966)

In Hamburg-St. Georg is located at Lohmühlenstrasse No. 5 on the hospital grounds, the "Hermann Holthusen Institute for Radiation Therapy".

literature

• Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar , Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1976.
• German Biographical Encyclopedia , KG Sauer, Munich 1997.
• Ulrich Völklein : The Weizsäcker. Droemer-Knaur, 2004. ISBN 3-426-27319-5 .
• Andreas Mettenleiter : Testimonials, memories, diaries and letters from German-speaking doctors. Supplements and supplements II (A – H). In: Würzburg medical history reports. 21, 2002, p. 516

Web links

• Literature by and about Hermann Holthusen in the catalog of the German National Library
• German digital library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945 . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Second updated edition, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 268.
2. ^ Matthias Andrae, The Expulsion of the Jewish Doctors of the General Hospital Hamburg St. Georg under National Socialism , 2003, ISBN 3833010401 , p. 152
3. ↑ hamburg.de Agnes Holthusen born. Weizsäcker, in: Hamburg Women's Biographies, October 18, 2016
4. ↑ The memorial of radiology in Hamburg. A contribution to the history of X-rays. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2006; 178 (8): 753-756 doi : 10.1055 / s-2006-948089

Remarks

1. ↑ "Hermann Holthusen Institute for Radiation Therapy" Asklepios Klinik St. Georg, accessed on September 26, 2018.
   The Holthusenbad at the Kellinghusenstraße underground station in Hamburg-Eppendorf is named after Wilhelm Holthusen, the long-time director of Hamburg's waterworks.
   It is currently not possible to determine after whom Holthusenstrasse in Hamburg-Volksdorf was named.