Julius Wolff (medic)

Julius Wolff (born March 21, 1836 in Märkisch Friedland ; † February 18, 1902 in Berlin ) was a German doctor and pioneer of orthopedic surgery.

Life

Julius Wolff, the son of a merchant, who was born in West Prussia at the time , began attending the "Zum Grauen Kloster" high school in Berlin in 1849. From 1855 to 1860 he studied medicine at the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin . Julius Wolff received his doctorate in 1860 in the field of surgery under Bernhard von Langenbeck at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin with the thesis De Artificiali Ossium Productione in Animalibus . In 1861, after passing the state examination, he settled in Berlin as a general practitioner and became a medical officer of the “Germania Life Insurance Company”. He took part as a surgeon in 1864 in the German-Danish War , in 1866 in the German War and in 1870–1871 in the German-French War .

tomb

In 1868 he completed his habilitation and was appointed private lecturer, and in 1869 he began lecturing at the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin. In 1869 he married Anna Weigert. In 1882 he participated in the founding of the "Private Sanatorium for Surgical Diseases". In 1884 he was appointed associate professor at the medical faculty of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin. From 1886 Wolff was a board member of the Free Association of Surgeons in Berlin. In 1890 he succeeded in establishing part of the private sanatorium as a "Provisional Polyclinic for Orthopedic Surgery" at the Friedrich Wilhelms University without financial support and without being appointed director. In 1892 he became a member of the Leopoldina . In 1894 the provisional polyclinic was transformed into a “polyclinic for orthopedic surgery” with a university budget. In 1899, Wolff was appointed "Secret Medical Councilor" at the medical faculty of the Friedrich Wilhelms University. In 1901 he was a co-founder of the "German Society for Orthopedic Surgery". In 1901 the clinic was taken over by the Charité network as the “Royal University Polyclinic”. The following year he died of complications from a stroke . His nephew Georg Joachimsthal succeeded his successor Albert Hoffa in 1908 as head of the polyclinic.

He is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee .

plant

Based on observations made during his many years as a surgeon , he postulated Wolff's law (original title 1892: Law of the Transformation of Bones ), which describes the relationship between bone geometry and mechanical influences on the bone. To this end, he was in close contact with leading scientists of his time. Karl Culmann , Wilhelm Roux , Christian Otto Mohr and Albert Hoffa supported him in interpreting and evaluating his research. With his work he introduced mechanics and thus physical factors into evolutionary biology . He saw his work as an extension of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution .

His work formed one of the cornerstones for the cutting of the cord in orthopedics as an independent discipline in medicine. Julius Wolff was the first professor of orthopedics at the Charité and founder and director of the first polyclinic for orthopedic surgery in Berlin. His scientific work has had a significant impact on orthopedic surgery. His findings that bones adapt to changed mechanical conditions are used in musculoskeletal research, orthopedics, trauma surgery , rehabilitation , mechano- and cell biology and tissue engineering .

Publications

• 1860 De artificiali ossium productione in animalibus , Diss. Kaiser Wilhelm University Berlin
• 1863 Osteoplasty in its relationship to surgery and physiology. In: Archives for Clinical Surgery 4: 183-296
• 1868 About bone growth. August Hirschwald, Berlin, In: Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift 5 (6): 62-64, 76-77, 110-112
• 1869 On the importance of the architecture of the cancellous substance. Central Journal for Medical Science VI: 223-234
• 1870 About the internal architecture of bones and their significance for the question of bone growth. Virchow's Archives 50 (3): 389-453
• 1872 Contributions to the doctrine of the healing of fractures. Clinical Surgery Archives 14: 270-312, 389-453
• 1873 On the teaching of fracture healing. In: German journal for surgery 2 (6) 546-551
• 1875 About the expansion of bone tissue. August Hirschwald, Berlin, Berlin Clinical Weekly 6, 8
• 1875 Some remarks on the current state of the bone growth question. Virchow's Archives 64: 140-144.
• 1877 About Gudden's Markir experiment on the rabbit skull. Negotiating of the Berlin Physiological Society. German medical. Weekly 24
• 1879 On the question of bone growth. August Hirschwald, Berlin, Berlin Clinical Weekly 48
• 1882 Cord-like degeneration of the posterior cords of the spinal cord with simultaneous menigomyelitic foci
• 1883 About trophic disorders in primary joint ailments. August Hirschwald, Berlin, Berlin Clinical Weekly 28
• 1883 On bilateral progressive facial atrophy. Virchow's Archives 94 (3): 393-405
• 1884 The law of transformation of the internal architecture of the bones in the event of pathological changes in the external bone shape. Report of the meeting - Prussian Academy of Sciences 22 Physical and Mathematical Class, pp. 475–496.
• 1884 The shortening of fully grown tubular bones. August Hirschwald, Berlin, Berlin Clinical Weekly 25
• 1884 On the latest polemics concerning the question of bone growth. August Hirschwald, Berlin, Berlin Clinical Weekly 40
• 1885 About the causes and treatment of deformities, especially clubfoot. August Hirschwald, Berlin, Berlin Clinical Weekly 22: 161-166, 182-186
• 1885 Attempts to mark the crown, forehead and nasal bone of rabbits, Virchow's Archiv 101 (3): 572-630
• 1888 About the growth of the lower jaw. Virchow's Archives 114 (3): 493-547
• 1888 About the growth of the lower jaw. Second contribution to the experimental studies of bone growth. Virchow's Archives 114: 493-547
• 1889 For the treatment of clubfoot using portable bandages. August Hirschwald, Berlin, Berlin Clinical Weekly 8
• 1891 About the theory of bone loss through increased pressure and bone formation through pressure relief. Clinical Surgery Archives 42 (2): 302-324
• 1891 Demonstration regarding the deformities. Report of the meeting of the Free Association of Surgeons in Berlin. German Medical Weekly 19 (16)
• 1892 The Law of Transformation of Bones. August Hirschwald, Berlin; Reprint, ed. by Dieter Wessinghage, Stuttgart and New York 1991 (= reprints of medical historical writings , 4)
• 1896 The doctrine of the functional pathogenesis of deformities. Clinical Surgery Archives 53: 831-905
• 1899 The doctrine of the functional bone shape. Virchow's Archives 155: 256-315.
• 1899 Reply to F. Baehr's remarks in the 2nd issue of the previous volume. Virchow's Archives 157 (1): 195-196
• 1901 About the interrelation between the form and the function of the individual structures of the organism. Verh. Ges. Deutscher Naturforsch. Doctors, Volume 72: 82-114
• 1901 On the normal and pathological architecture of bones, Virchow's Archiv 163: 239–262.

literature

• Bernhard Meyer: With him the independent orthopedics begins - the doctor Julius Wolff . In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 2, 1997, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 79-83 ( luise-berlin.de ).
• JH Wolf: Julius Wolff and his law of transformation of bones . In: Orthopäde , Springer Verlag, 1995, (24), pp. 378-386
• The law of transformation of bones . 1892. Reprint: Pro Business, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86805-648-8 .
• Dieter Wessinghage : Hundred years of Wolff's transformation law. In: Würzburger medical historical reports , Volume 11, 1993, pp. 27–43.

Web links

• Julius Wolff Institute. Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, central research areas are the regeneration and biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system and the improvement of joint replacement.

Individual evidence

1. ^ List of members Leopoldina, Julius Wolff