Raphael Kosch

Raphael Jakob Kosch (born October 5, 1803 in Lissa ; † March 27, 1872 in Berlin ) was a Prussian doctor and politician. In particular, he campaigned for equal rights for Jews.

Life

Kosch came from a Jewish family and came to Königsberg as a child . At the local university , he studied from 1822 medicine and graduated in 1826 as Dr. med. He initially worked as an assistant doctor at the surgical clinic in Königsberg. In 1832 he started his own practice.

Kosch experienced discrimination because of his Jewish faith. He was refused to do his military service as a doctor because the king allegedly did not want his soldiers to be treated by Jewish doctors. Early on he acted as a spokesman for Jewish interests and campaigned for Jewish equality. Together with Johann Jacoby, he campaigned for reforms within the Jewish community of Königsberg .

In 1844 he was one of the co-founders of the Königsberg civil society, which campaigned for the lower social classes, political education and participation in public life in Vormärz , and was a member of the liberal discussion group “Siegel Klub”.

At the beginning of the revolution of 1848 he was chairman of a people's assembly on March 13th in Königsberg, after which the military took action against those involved. Kosch was initially a leading member of the moderate constitutional club of Königsberg. He was elected a member of the Prussian National Assembly and temporarily served as its second vice president. In it he was a moderate member and at times spokesman for the left center. He was also at times considered a candidate for a ministerial post; but since he did not want to be baptized, it did not happen. In 1849 he was a member of the second chamber of the Prussian state parliament . After its dissolution, both Kosch and Jacoby pleaded in protest for a political boycott by the Democrats .

Kosch has been a leader in the German National Association since 1859 . In 1861 he was a co-founder of the German Progressive Party . From 1862 until his death he represented the constituency “City and District of Königsberg - District of Fischhausen” in the Prussian House of Representatives . From 1863 he was chairman of the rules of procedure commission there. He campaigned for Jewish equality in the school system and the judiciary. In view of legal equality in 1869, he said that "finally" the Jews had "entered the safe haven."

One of his well-known patients was the astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel , whose rare disease, retroperitoneal fibrosis , Kosch correctly recognized; he is one of the first to describe this clinical picture.

literature

Ernest Hamburger : Jews in Public Life in Germany. Government members, civil servants and parliamentarians in the monarchical period. 1848 - 1918. Tübingen 1968
Jacob Toury : The political orientation of the Jews in Germany. From Jena to Weimar . Tubingen 1966
Ulrich Wyrwa: Jews in Tuscany and Prussia in comparison . Tübingen 2003, ISBN 3-16-148077-5

Individual evidence

↑ Bernhard Mann (arrangement) with the collaboration of Martin Doerry , Cornelia Rauh , Thomas Kühne: Biographisches Handbuch für das Prussische Abrafenhaus 1867–1918 (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 3). Droste, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-7700-5146-7 , p. 227; for the election results see Thomas Kühne: Handbook of elections to the Prussian House of Representatives 1867–1918. Election results, election alliances and election candidates (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 6). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-5182-3 , pp. 91-94.
↑ Conrad, Horst / Haunfelder, Bernd : “Prussian parliamentarians. A photo album 1859-1867 ” . With a foreword by Lothar Gall. Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 1986, p. 82 (photo documents on the history of parliamentarism and political parties)
↑ Raphael Kosch: Bessel's last illness, described and explained by Dr. Kosch . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Tag & Koch, Königsberg 1846, p. 391 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 22, 2020]).
↑ Eberhard Neumann-Redlin von Meding : 150 years ago: the description of retroperitoneal fibrosis, the "Ormond's disease", based on the clinical picture of FW Bessels (1784–1846). In: Der Urologe (B), Volume 36 (1996), pp. 378-382 ( doi: 10.1007 / s001310050044 ).

Web links

Entry on jewishencyclopedia.com

personal data
SURNAME	Kosch, Raphael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kosch, Raphael Jakob (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German doctor and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	October 5, 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH	Lissa
DATE OF DEATH	March 27, 1872
Place of death	Berlin

[1] Bernhard Mann (arrangement) with the collaboration of Martin Doerry , Cornelia Rauh , Thomas Kühne: Biographisches Handbuch für das Prussische Abrafenhaus 1867–1918 (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 3). Droste, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-7700-5146-7 , p. 227; for the election results see Thomas Kühne: Handbook of elections to the Prussian House of Representatives 1867–1918. Election results, election alliances and election candidates (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 6). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-5182-3 , pp. 91-94.

[2] Conrad, Horst / Haunfelder, Bernd : “Prussian parliamentarians. A photo album 1859-1867 ” . With a foreword by Lothar Gall. Düsseldorf: Droste Verlag, 1986, p. 82 (photo documents on the history of parliamentarism and political parties)

[3] Raphael Kosch: Bessel's last illness, described and explained by Dr. Kosch . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Tag & Koch, Königsberg 1846, p. 391 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed July 22, 2020]).

[4] Eberhard Neumann-Redlin von Meding : 150 years ago: the description of retroperitoneal fibrosis, the "Ormond's disease", based on the clinical picture of FW Bessels (1784–1846). In: Der Urologe (B), Volume 36 (1996), pp. 378-382 ( doi: 10.1007 / s001310050044 ).