Peter Althaus (urologist)

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Peter Althaus (right) giving a medical opinion on Erich Honecker's state of health in 1990

Peter Althaus (born December 27, 1940 ) is a German urologist . He worked at the Charité in Berlin , where he was professor of urology from 1988 to 1991 . From 1992 to 2008 he was chief physician at the Evangelical Hospital Queen Elisabeth Herzberge in Berlin. As the doctor responsible for Erich Honecker's cancer operation , he became known to the public beyond specialist circles in 1990. The media topic was also the legal dispute Althaus won in 1992/1993 with the Humboldt University in Berlin because of his dismissal due to an alleged activity for the Ministry for State Security of the GDR.

Life

Althaus began his medical studies in Leningrad in 1960 , which he graduated with a gold medal. After graduation, he worked at the Martin Luther University in Halle at the Surgical Clinic, where he in 1969 with the thesis The reconstruction of the kidney center of the University Surgical Hospital Hall doctorate was. In 1971 he became a specialist in urology there. In 1973 he moved to the Charité of the Berlin Humboldt University in the department for experimental organ transplantation. In 1980 he completed his habilitation with a thesis on the hemodynamics of kidney transplants after hypothermic storage and perfusion preservation , and one year later he was appointed lecturer. The main research area was kidney transplants . In 1988 he was appointed full professor of urology and, as successor to Moritz Mebel, director of the clinic and polyclinic for urology at the Charité. He had been the clinic's deputy director since 1982.

In addition to his work at the Charité, Althaus worked as a consultant for the GDR government hospital . In August 1989 he diagnosed Erich Honecker with a tumor on the right kidney. Honecker was not informed of the results; he only found out about it from the media in January 1990 in connection with the examination of his detention capacity. On January 10, Althaus removed a tumor from Honecker's right kidney. After Honecker was arrested in the hospital on January 28th, Althaus finally campaigned successfully for exemption from prison. On January 30, Althaus took Erich Honecker, who had meanwhile lost his apartment in the Wandlitz forest settlement , to Pastor Uwe Holmer in Lobetal , where Honecker was housed for several months.

On July 22, 1991, Althaus was released without notice. In the opinion of the former Berlin Senator for Science and Research, Manfred Erhardt , the documents available to the Gauck authorities from the former Ministry of State Security were sufficient to prove that Althaus was an unofficial employee of the Stasi under the code name "Junghans". The then Dean of the Charité, Harald Mau , stated that the Stasi had "controlled the entire kidney transplation". In June 1992, however, the Berlin labor court declared the dismissal pronounced against Althaus ineffective, as the signature under the declaration of commitment for the Stasi did not come from Althaus. Althaus also won the trial in January 1993 in the second instance.

In 1992, however, he had already taken on a job at the Queen Elisabeth Herzberge Evangelical Hospital, where he headed the clinic's newly established urological department. He was chief physician there for sixteen years. He retired in December 2008.

Althaus has published numerous specialist articles and is a member of several research organizations.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Farewell to Professor Althaus as Head of Urology , Evangelical Hospital Queen Elisabeth Herzberge, Newsletter 6/2008, p. 8, digitized version (.pdf; 784 kB)
  2. ↑ a b B. Schönberger, S. Lück, History of Urology at the Charité Berlin , in: Urologe [B], 40 (2000), pp. 69–73
  3. ↑ Thomas Kunze, former head of state, The last years of Erich Honecker , Ch. Links Verlag Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-86153-247-6 , p. 77
  4. ↑ A victory of God - 20 years ago Uwe Holmer offered the Honecker family asylum in the rectory , Berliner Zeitung, January 30, 2010
  5. ↑ It's about our honor . In: Der Spiegel . No. 35 , 1991, pp. 60-65 ( Online - Aug. 26, 1991 ).
  6. ↑ Michael Klonowsky, Heard by a False Friend , Die Zeit, June 26, 1992
  7. ^ Mediziner Althaus wins trial , Berliner Zeitung, January 20, 1993
personal data
SURNAME Althaus, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German urologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1940