Konrad Hammacher

Konrad Hammacher (born January 29, 1928 in Essen , † October 4, 2001 in Steinfurt ) was a German gynecologist and professor of medicine for gynecology and obstetrics as well as the inventor of various medical devices.

Life

Hammacher was the son of a doctor. While attending school, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht as an air force helper and was then able to do his Abitur in 1948. He then studied medicine in Bonn and Innsbruck and became a member of Catholic student associations in KV : in Bonn near the Rhineland, now K.St.V. Rheno-Merovingia Bochum, and at the KStV Rhenania Innsbruck . He remained loyal to these connections until the end of his life.

After completing his studies, Hammacher became an assistant and senior physician at the Medical Academy in Düsseldorf and then at the Physiological Institute of the University of Münster . This was followed by activities as head of the clinical section of the research department for biomedical technology at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel. After various study trips to the USA and Europe, Hammacher became senior physician at the University of Basel , where he received his habilitation in 1974. He then became full professor and medical director for obstetrics and gynecology at the University Women's Clinic in Tübingen. Because of health problems, he retired there in 1985.

Hammacher had been married to the dentist Monika Schilde since 1958, and the marriage resulted in three children.

meaning

Hammacher was a doctor with passion, but at the same time always interested in technology. While still studying medicine, he was granted a patent for his invention of automatic planetary gearboxes for motor vehicles. However, his inventions in medical technology were groundbreaking and brought Hammacher international recognition. Due to his developments and inventions, especially in cardiotocography , the heart activity of unborn children and maternal labor as well as child movements can be monitored during pregnancy care and delivery. This led to a not inconsiderable reduction in child mortality during pregnancy and childbirth.

Other inventions for obstetrics, anesthesia and neonatology also come from Hammacher. Hammacher introduced the so-called rooming-in system , which enables mother-child contact as early as possible, for the first time in Tübingen. He even constructed a special baby bed to make this system possible even in cramped conditions.

From 1962 to 2001 Hammacher published several works and over 80 articles in German and foreign journals.

Honors

Hammacher received numerous honors for his activities, including a .: Maternity Prize of the German Society for Perinatal Medicine (1969), honorary memberships of the Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (1982), the Lower Rhine-Westphalian Society for Gynecology (1991) and the German Society for Gynecology (2000), honor plaque of the society for perinatal medicine of the GDR (1986). In 1991 Hammacher was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit. At the award ceremony, the laudator declared: "The ideas and the ingenious idea of ​​cardiotocography has started a triumphal march around the world. Konrad Hammacher is part of the history of medicine and the history of obstetrics."

Fonts (selection)

• The continuous electronic monitoring of the fetal heart activity before and during delivery In: Gynecology and Obstetrics Volume II - 1970
• Introduction to Cardiotocography - 5th Edition 2000

literature

• Robert Jauch in: Siegfried Koß, Wolfgang Löhr (Hrsg.): Biographical Lexicon of KV. 7th part (= Revocatio historiae. Volume 9). Akadpress, Essen 2010, ISBN 978-3-939413-12-7 , p. 52 ff. (With numerous other references).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Prof. JW Dudenhausen: in Perinatalmedizin 10/1999