Julius Jacobson

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Julius Jacobson

Julius Jacobson (born August 18, 1828 in Königsberg , East Prussia, † September 14, 1889 in Cranz , East Prussia) was a German ophthalmologist . In the Kingdom of Prussia , he succeeded in separating ophthalmology from surgery as an independent subject.

Life

At the age of 16 Jacobson studied medicine at the Albertus University in Königsberg . As a student of Karl August Burow and Hermann von Helmholtz , Jacobson experienced the advances in ophthalmology. These included the presentation of the ophthalmoscope in 1850, presented by H. von Helmholtz to the Association for Scientific Medicine . The young Jacobson was fascinated by the new subject of ophthalmology and Burow's operational talent.

1853 doctorate he became Dr. med. with a dissertation on glaucoma . For ophthalmological training he went in 1854 to Ferdinand von Arlt at the Karl Ferdinand University and to Albrecht von Graefe at the Charité . With them he learned the latest surgical procedures, particularly cataract surgery when cataracts and iridectomy in glaucoma . A. von Graefe wanted Jacobson to be his successor. However, "adverse circumstances" prevented a university career in the capital, so that Jacobson returned to Königsberg.

From 1856 to 1858 he was assistant to Albert Seerig in the Königsberg surgery. Habilitated since 1858 , he became associate professor in 1861 . Following Graefes model, Jacobson opened an ophthalmology clinic in Königsberg in 1862/63. He led the chloroform - anesthesia one by James Simpson. For the cataract operation, he replaced the lance that had been used up until then with a new scalpel ; today it is incorrectly referred to as the Graefe knife . Through his medical achievements and his publications Jacobson gained the highest reputation at home and abroad.

Solution of ophthalmology from surgery

Koenigsberg Eye Clinic
The University Eye Clinic after an extension in the 1920s, photo taken in 1998

In 1870 Jacobson succeeded in making the eye clinic independent (government decree of November 7, 1870, see below). The Albertina appointed Jacobson to the new chair in 1873 . A new institute building was erected in 1877 on the Lange Reihe. Jacobson's tough battle preceded this end result:

On September 24, 1864, the curator of the Albertus University in Königsberg submitted an application to the Kgl. State Ministry and the Kgl. Ministry for spiritual teaching and medical affairs in Berlin for the establishment of a chair for ophthalmology with a new building initially only an "ophthalmological polyclinic ". The reaction from Berlin came promptly in the form of a reprimand. A government decree of December 10, 1864 strictly rejected the request. In 1865 another urgent application was submitted in Berlin. It was the influence of the well-known doctor and MP Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902) that brought down Jacobson's plan again. "The subject is too insignificant for such an effort," says Virchow. Thereupon Jacobson wrote a memorandum in 1868 in which he refuted Virchow's arguments.

The breakthrough in implementation came with a six-page letter from the University's Board of Trustees to the Ministry in Berlin, which was signed by seven full professors. In the government decree of November 7, 1870, the establishment of a first chair for ophthalmology in Königsberg with the construction of an eye clinic was approved in principle. The reason for the government's rethinking arose from the rampant granulosis epidemic of the 1860s and 1870s, which was exacerbated by the effects of the Franco-Prussian War . (Granulosis was the family name for granulation tissue in trachoma , tubercle and conjunctivitis granulomatosa.) 20 to 30% of the troops suffered from this eye granulosis, which affected the eyelids, tear ducts and the cornea. Discharging soldiers from military service created new sources of infection in the civilian population. The damage went as far as blindness.

From 1873 to 1889 Julius Jacobson was the only professor for ophthalmology in Prussia. During these years, Königsberg ophthalmology advanced to become a well-known university eye clinic in Europe (Gutzeit) alongside Prague (F. von Arlt) and Berlin (A. von Graefe). This was due to Jacobson's operational skills and his research results on granulosis.

Jacobson's successors were Professors Adolf Vossius (1855–1925), Arthur von Hippel (1841–1916), Hermann Kuhnt (1850–1925), Emil Krückmann (1865–1944), Franz Schieck (1871–1946) and Arthur Birch-Hirschfeld (1871-1945). The eye clinic, which was partially destroyed in the Second World War, was rebuilt and now serves as a dormitory.

Private career

Jacobson came from a family of doctors. Because of his Jewish beliefs, his father's teaching assignment at Albertus University was withdrawn. One brother was the internist Heinrich Jacobson .

As a student, Jacobson was already a welcome guest in the Königsberg music scene as a piano virtuoso . With his wife Hermine Jacobson geb. Haller and the five children Hanna (violinist), Julius, Margarethe and Trude (painter) he lived in “the beautiful house in Königstr. 56, which was given a special attraction by its blossoming, musically gifted daughters, and there was no outstanding artist, no famous singer who did not visit Prof. Jacobson ” . In diaries from a trip to Italy, Jacobson describes Königsberg's private and professional life.

Jacobson was a member of several societies and the association for scientific medicine . He suffered from trigeminal neuralgia . He was buried in the Reformed Cemetery in front of the Königstor in Königsberg.

Honors

Fonts

A complete list of his writings can be found in Arthur von Hippel's obituary . The handbook of his colleague Adolf Vossius (1855–1925) with the title Grundriß der Augenheilkunde (1888) was considered a standard work in Germany and its 3rd edition was translated into Russian and Japanese.

  • Albrecht von Graefe's Contributions to Modern Ophthalmology, from his works presented by J. Jacobson . Berlin 1885.
  • Travel letters from Italy and Switzerland. 1893.
  • Healings from the Königsberg Eye Clinic 1877–1879. Hermann Peters, Berlin 1880.
  • Contributions to the pathology of the eye. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1888.
  • About syphilitic retinitis. Königsberg Medical Yearbooks, 1859.
  • From the doctrine of cataract extraction with flap incision. In: Graefe Archive. Volume 11, I, 1865.
  • On the doctrine of cataract extraction with flap incision. In: Graefes Archive. Volume 11, Dept. II, 1865.
  • On the ophthalmological findings in tubercles of the eye. In: Graefes Archive. Volume 19, I, 1873.
  • Clinical contributions to the teaching of glaucoma. In: Graefe Archive. Volume 29.III, Volume 30, I, 1883-1884.
  • Albrecht von Gräfe's services to modern ophthalmology. H. Peters, Berlin 1885.
  • Relationships of changes and diseases of the organ of vision. W. Engelmann, Leipzig 1885.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ E. Kunz: History of the University Eye Clinic Königsberg. 1st part: East Prussia. Doctors family summer. 1973, pp. 14-16; 2nd part: East Prussian family of doctors in Advent. 1973, pp. 10-12 and part 3: Ostpreußische Doktorfamilie Ostern. 1974 (memorial letter) with many illustrations of Jacobson's successors, pp. 6-10.
  2. ^ E. Neumann-Redlin von Meding: Königsberg, birthplace of ophthalmology in Prussia around 1850–1875. In: Königsberger Bürgerbrief , No. 70 (2007), pp. 53–55.
  3. ^ E. Neumann-Redlin von Meding: Association for scientific medicine. In: Königsberger Bürgerbrief , No. 78 (2011), pp. 49–52.
  4. ^ E. Neumann-Redlin von Meding: Karl August Burow (1809–1874). A misunderstood guide to Prussian surgery and ophthalmology. In: Königsberger Bürgerbrief , No. 74 (2009), pp. 45–47.
  5. ↑ W. Hoffmann: The importance of Königsberg for the development of ophthalmology . Lecture on October 16, 1951 at the meeting of the "East Prussian Doctor Family", Easter circular, 1952, pp. 6-7.
  6. ↑ File Eye Clinic Königsberg at the Secret State Archive Berlin , Repository 76, Va, Section 11, Title X, No. 39, Volume I (1866–1881), Sheets 2, 20, 24, 41, 49 and 100.
  7. ↑ File Eye Clinic Buildings Königsberg at the Secret State Archives Berlin , Repository 76, Va, Section 11, Title XIX, No. 11, Volume I (1873–1900), Sheet 6.
  8. ↑ Lit. Hoffmann
  9. ↑ Lit. Hoffmann, p. 7.
  10. ↑ Lit. Eye Clinic 1866–1881, sheet 20.
  11. ↑ Lit. Eye Clinic 1866–1881, sheet 41
  12. ↑ Lit. Eye Clinic 1866–1881, pages 24 and 49
  13. ↑ K. Gutzeit, A. Birsch-Hirschfeld: To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the University Eye Clinic in Königsberg, Pr. In: Königsberger Allgemeine Zeitung from May 1927 (reprint in: Ostpreußische Arztfamilie . Osterrundbrief 1977, pp. 8-10. )
  14. ^ H. Berger: Julius Jacobson. East Prussian medical family. Summer circular 1966, pp. 23-26 (part 1) and part 2: Easter circular 1967, pp. 14-19 (travel report Italy)
  15. ↑ Berger 1966, p. 24.
  16. ↑ Berger 1967, OAF Easter 1967, p. 17.
  17. ↑ E. v. Leyden, memoirs
  18. ↑ Berger, 1967, pp. 14-17.
  19. ^ Robert Albinus: Königsberg Lexicon . Würzburg 2002, ISBN 3-88189-441-1 .
personal data
SURNAME Jacobson, Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ophthalmologist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH August 18, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Koenigsberg , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 1889
Place of death Cranz , East Prussia