Carl Thiersch

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Carl Thiersch

Carl Thiersch , also Karl Thiersch (born April 20, 1822 in Munich , † April 28, 1895 in Leipzig ) was a German surgeon , university professor and is considered the founder of transplant theory .

family

Thiersch was the son of the classical philologist Friedrich Thiersch and his wife Amalie geb. Loeffler (1794-1878). In 1858 he married Johanna Liebig, daughter of Justus von Liebig . His sister-in-law Agnes Liebig married the writer and philosopher Moriz Carrière . From Thiersch's marriage there were four daughters and two sons:

  • Amalie (1858–1938) ⚭ 1879 Adolf von Harnack theologian
  • Justus (1859–1937), district doctor ⚭ Marie von Hoffmann (* 1864), daughter of Minister Karl von Hofmann
  • Johanna (1861–1957) ⚭ 1885 Hermann Rassow (1858–1931), Dr. phil., Privy Councilor, Head of Studies in Potsdam
  • Agnes (1863–1954) ⚭ 1884 Friedrich Louis Hesse (1849–1906) Dr. med., professor, dentist
  • Lina (1864–1943) ⚭ 1884 Hans Delbrück historian
  • Friedrich (* 1868) ⚭ Luise Patzki (* 1870)

Life

After graduating from the (today's) Wilhelmsgymnasium Munich in 1838 and a two-year preparatory course (biennium), Thiersch began studying medicine in Munich . The surgeon Louis Stromeyer was one of his teachers. In 1843 Thiersch successfully completed his studies and received his doctorate with a work in medicine that was influenced by natural philosophy. He then went to Berlin for further training at the clinic of the surgeon Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1792–1847) and to the clinic of Josef von Škoda in Vienna . From 1844 to 1846 Thiersch completed his assistantship with Franz Christoph von Rothmund (1801-1891) at the surgical clinic of the general city hospital in Munich and was licensed as a doctor in 1845 . The end of this training phase was a study visit to Paris .

Since 1847 prosector for pathological anatomy at the University of Munich , Thiersch completed his habilitation in 1849 with a thesis on wound enlargement and blood poisoning . He introduced the microscope for teaching pathology and anatomy . In 1850 he took part in the Schleswig-Holstein War as a military doctor with his teacher Stromeyer and Bernhard von Langenbeck , Johann N. Nussbaum and Esmarch in order to gain experience in war surgery. After returning to Munich, Thiersch was appointed associate professor in 1853 . With Max Pettenkofer he carried out scientific research on the Munich cholera epidemic, which broke out at the time, on behalf of the state.

gain

In 1854 he took a reputation as being more orderly. Professor of Surgery and Ophthalmology at the University of Erlangen . In 1861/62 he was rector there . He devoted himself to skin cancer and wound healing . His histological technique and injection method made it possible to produce exemplary specimens that were also highly valued abroad.

Leipzig

In 1867 he was appointed to the chair at the Surgery University of Leipzig as successor to Gustav Biedermann Günther . In 1876/77 he was also rector of the university in Leipzig. There, together with Carl Wunderlich, he also made a contribution to building the new city ​​hospital in the pavilion style and to improving nursing and nutrition. In the Franco-Prussian War he served in Gravelotte, Sédan and Paris as a consultant general doctor of the XII. (I. Royal Saxon) Army Corps . He then dealt with plastic surgery, among other things. In 1871 he founded the St. Georg Clinic in Leipzig with Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich . Thiersch remained an academic teacher at the University of Leipzig until his death.

meaning

Thiersch was one of the most important surgeons of the 19th century in Germany. His first scientific work, which was awarded a prize by the Paris Academy, dealt with the transferability of cholera , whereby he fed dried cholera intestines to mice during the cholera epidemic in Munich in 1854, thus demonstrating the contagiousness of the cholera stool.

His work, published in 1865, on skin cancer, which he called "epithelial cancer" for the first time, proved, contrary to the opinion of Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902), that the malignant disease can arise from skin, mucous membrane and glandular epithelium , and suggested the excision of the Cancerous ulcers at a considerable distance from the visible cancerous infiltrate . With the help of experimental investigations, Thiersch demonstrated the basic processes of wound healing ("plasmatic circulation"). He was one of the first to introduce antisepsis according to Joseph Lister (1827–1912) in Germany and since 1874 he used the less toxic salicylic acid instead of carbolic acid (phenol) for this purpose .

Pioneering surgical treatment methods for malformations of the urogenital system (epi-, hypospadias , bladder ectopia ) also come from Thiersch. In contrast to Jacques Louis Reverdin (1842–1929), who applied thick pieces of skin to granulating surfaces, Thiersch achieved great treatment successes with very thin skin grafts in 1886 . The nerve extraction (neurexheresis), which he introduced in 1889, can be regarded as a further advance in operative surgery.

Honors

All medals are missing

Publications

  • Infection experiments on animals with the contents of the cholera intestine. Munich 1865.
  • Epithelial cancer, especially of the skin. An anatomical-clinical examination. Leipzig 1865.
  • The finer anatomical changes after wounding the soft tissues. In: Theodor Billroth , Franz von Pitha (Ed.): Handbook of general and special surgery. , Vol. 1/2. 1867.
  • Clinical results of Lister's wound treatment and the replacement of carbolic acid with salicylic acid. Collection of clinical lectures. 1875, pp. 84-85.
  • About skin grafting. XV. Surgical Congress. Vol. 1. 17, 1886; XVII. Surgical Congress. Volume 1. 66, 1888.
  • About nerve extraction, showing instruments and pulled out nerves. XVIII. Surgical Congress. Vol. 1. 44, 1889.

literature

Web links

Commons : Carl Thiersch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Max Leitschuh: The matriculations of the upper classes of the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich , 4 vols., Munich 1970-1976 .; Vol. 4, p. 13
  2. ↑ Dissertation: On the theory of medicinal effects
  3. ^ Habilitation thesis: Pathological-anatomical observations on pyaemia
  4. ↑ a b Rector's speeches (HKM)
  5. ^ Karl Thiersch: About epithelial cancer. In: G. Schmauss, L. Geenen (eds.): Supplement to the daily newspaper of the 36th Assembly of German Natural Scientists and Doctors in Speyer from September 17 to 24, 1861. Speyer 1861, p. 29 f.
personal data
SURNAME Thiersch, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thiersch, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German surgeon and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1822
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1895
Place of death Leipzig