Sigurd Janssen

Sigurd Janssen (born February 17, 1891 in Düsseldorf , † May 6, 1968 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German doctor and pharmacologist and the first rector of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg after the Second World War .

Life

He was a son of the sculptor Karl Janssen and his wife Eleonore geb. Push. The paternal grandfather, a great uncle ( Johann Peter Hasenclever ) and an uncle ( Johann Peter Theodor Janssen ) were also visual artists. Sigurd studied in Munich, Kiel and - after a four-year break from military service in World War I - in Düsseldorf and Heidelberg medicine. After the state examination in 1921, he completed his doctoral thesis at the Heidelberg Pharmacological Institute under Rudolf Gottlieb and was then an assistant there. In 1923 he moved to Paul Trendelenburg at the Pharmacological Institute at the University of Freiburg. There he completed his habilitation in 1926 with the work The gas exchange of the skeletal muscle in tone . In autumn 1927 he followed Paul Trendelenburg to the Pharmacological Institute of the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin , but stayed only a few weeks. Then he was appointed to the chair in Freiburg, which had become vacant after Trendelenburg's departure, and began his service there on November 2nd.

Janssen headed the Freiburg Institute on what was then Katharinenstraße until 1960 - 32 years, during which the Nazi era , the Second World War and the destruction of Freiburg and the Pharmacological Institute in the bombing raid on November 27, 1944 fell. A bomb hit the institute and eight more fell within a 30-meter radius. Four people were in the institute, including Janssen, who had his official apartment on the top floor. The longtime employee Margareta Kötter (1908–1994) noted: “We owe you to our thanks that the institute did not burn down. November 28 is a bleak picture: smoking debris, a pale sun shining through the acrid smoke. The sight of the preserved cathedral tower in the middle of the destroyed old town is unforgettable. "

Between 1933 and 1953 Janssen played no small role in science and university policy as chairman of the German Pharmacological Society and first post-war rector of the Freiburg University (see below).

The students were obliged to help with the reconstruction. A student described her experience in the Badische Zeitung of May 7, 1946: “If you approach the quarter between Albertstrasse and Johanniterstrasse, one encounters a closed development area. ... Freiburg students are in the process of rebuilding the university institutes under expert guidance. Four heavy iron girders are to be carried from the roof of the pharmacology to the street. Two students block the street and deal with a couple of women who think they absolutely have to 'just go very quickly' downstairs. A 'bang', a final effort - the last curious vanishes quickly, and with a deafening bang the iron girders crash into the depths. ... This activity is compensated by lively and serious conversations, the scale cannot be measured at all, it ranges from Nietzsche to Willy Forst , from Richard Wagner to Peter Kreuder , from Caruso to The Andrews Sisters . "

In June 1949 the institute was returned to its intended use. In the attic, no longer the director's apartment, but the laboratory wing, Janssen gave accommodation to his friend, physiologist Paul Hoffmann , whose institute had been completely destroyed. From 1952 to 1960 a new joint building for physiology and biochemistry was built next to pharmacology.

In 1951, after a six-year break, publications from Freiburg pharmacology appeared again. In 1960 Janssen retired. Bombed out in 1944, he lived at Sonnhalde 14 in Freiburg-Herdern until his death .

research

His teacher Paul Trendelenburg inspired Janssen to one of his two main areas of interest: the physiology and pharmacology of hormones. In 1928 he showed, along with others from Trendelenburg's group, that the antidiuretic hormone of the pituitary gland (ADH) acts directly on the kidneys and not primarily on the brain, as was still believed at the time. During his own professorship, he turned to the relationship between the anterior pituitary and thyroid gland . Thyrotropin was detected in the blood for the first time in Freiburg .

After the war, a small laxative - and a larger diuretic - focus emerged. Bisacodyl , Dulcolax® , is probably the most widely used synthetic laxative worldwide. In the Dr. Karl Thomae GmbH in Biberach an der Riss , it was first examined in Freiburg. It acts on the large intestine, namely "through direct contact with the intestinal mucosa", and because it is non-toxic, "the prerequisites for use ... in humans are given".

Janssen's second main area of ​​interest was the relationship between oxidative metabolism and thus heat production on the one hand and organ blood flow on the other. In relation to the skeletal muscle, this relationship was already the subject of his habilitation thesis from 1927, and even then he had to deal with the measurement of organ blood flow. At the same time he wanted to measure the heat production and blood flow to the kidneys. This led to contact with Hermann Rein , who had just completed his habilitation in physiology in Freiburg. The contact led to the so-called Thermostromuhr, a flow measuring device, usually called “Reinsche Thermostromuhr”. However, problems of interpretation caused Janssen to postpone the topic in 1927. It was only thirty years later that he took up it again: “The heat generation of the kidneys was discovered by Janssen et al. Rein (1927) calculated from the temperature difference of the arterial and venous blood and the size of the blood flow. Since concerns arose as to whether the measurement of the kidney blood flow with the ... thermostatic clock (Rein and Janssen, 1927) would allow sufficiently reliable quantitative statements, these experiments were not continued. ”The work from 1957 shows with now flawless measurement technology that the heat production in the Kidney cortex is twice as high as in the marrow.

The research at the Freiburg Pharmacological Institute during Janssen's long term was, although original and, as the bisacodyl shows, practically momentous, not exceptional. “But filled with admiration, how he kept an important topic, the auto-regulation of the blood circulation, and trained it all his life. The interruption at the end of the 1920s and the resumption in the 1950s after methodological improvement are exemplary natural research. "

Three Janssen students were appointed to chairs: Arnold Loeser (1902–1986; Chair of Pharmacology in Münster), Otto Heidenreich (* 1924; Chair of Pharmacology in Aachen) and Klaus Hierholzer (1929–2007; Chair of Clinical Physiology at the Free University of Berlin ).

Chairman of the German Pharmacological Society

When in 1933 the board of directors of the German Pharmacological Society of its Jewish members Werner Lipschitz , Otto Loewi and Otto Riesser resigned, Janssen and the Berlin pharmacologist and opponent of National Socialism Wolfgang Heubner formed an interim board until the next general meeting. The general assembly took place in Göttingen in 1934, according to Heubner's diary, “with about 30–40 participants - only imperial German non-Jews. However, Janssen did his job well, the required amendment to the statutes (about the right of approval of the Reich Minister of the Interior for the board) went smoothly and calmly. ”Janssen was elected chairman for 1934/35 and then again for 1935/36. His opening addresses at the Society's meetings in Munich in 1935 and in Gießen in 1936 were brief and factual, devoid of the reverence of his successor Ferdinand Flury to those in power at the 1938 meeting in Berlin.

Janssen as Rector and Prime Minister Reinhold Maier in 1952 before the Freiburg University

First post-war rector of the University of Freiburg

The end of the war

In an undated “Report on the period from April 25, 1945 to December 19, 1945”, Janssen describes the university at the end of the war: “In the course of the war, the Albert-Ludwigs-University had dissolved personally and materially. She was so badly hit by the air raid on November 27, 1944 that lessons were no longer possible. The professors, lecturers, students, civil servants and employees of the university were assigned by the district leadership to work on the fortification and to prepare the defense of the western wall in Alsace and the surrounding area of ​​Freiburg. Although the rector opposed all rumors of the university being relocated, the Albert Ludwig University was practically closed. ... Exams were held and the faculty meetings in which the respective situation was discussed continued regularly. The last faculty meeting, at which it was decided to wait, lasted on April 21, 1945 until 1 p.m. Then the members crept through the completely deserted streets to endure the occupation of the city. ”On this Saturday, Freiburg was taken, essentially without a fight, by the French armed forces.

"A revolutionary advance"

Four days later, on April 25, before the final surrender of the Wehrmacht , first the faculties and then a plenary meeting of lecturers met to “at a historical moment and in a revolutionary advance, probably only in Germany” Theologian Joseph Sauer wrote to regain its old status as an independent body, from the Nazi leadership constitution to the collegial principle, from the appointment of functionaries to the election. The medical faculty proposed Janssen as rector. He was “known as a clever and thoughtful man and (had) survived the Nazi era politically unaffected. Alongside him, the psychiatrist Kurt Beringer and the economist Walter Eucken were put up as candidates for election to the rector; However, Janssen received a unanimous vote from the plenary assembly. As a result, it was - as has already happened several times in the history of the university - the task of a doctor to take over the management of the university in one of its most difficult moments and in a deleterious state. ”The lawyer Franz Böhm was elected Vice-Rector .

In retrospect, the situation of the university was indeed difficult to imagine. In the destroyed city, in addition to deep exhaustion, there was an extreme shortage of everything, especially food, clothing, housing and medical care. Not only Germans and French met with suspicion, but also the university members among each other, some of whom had stayed away from National Socialism, but many had shown affiliation or compliant. In the first meeting with the military government, the Rector and Vice-Rector were informed that General Eisenhower had banned classes at the universities until further notice. It was asked whether they, Rector and Vice Rector, had belonged to the party. They said no. When the rector pointed out that there were no chairs in the theological faculty, her French interlocutor replied that new chairs had been set up, for example for racial studies and military science. When the rector asked whether it would be possible to get travel permits to institutes outside of Freiburg, he was informed that the ways were not clear because there were still SS units in the Black Forest, mainly very young people, fanatical National Socialists. One wonders why they were still fighting, and one cannot empathize with their mental attitude. The universities are also responsible for the attitude of these young people. What the University of Freiburg has done to fight the spirit of the wilderness of the youth.

For a few months it was considered to be content with the University of Heidelberg in Baden and to let the University of Freiburg go down in its ruins. "The renewal of the universities in Freiburg and Tübingen should result in their closure," said the head of the Direction de l'Éducation Publique Raymond Schnittlein , for example .

To have prevented this and to have preserved the university is not least thanks to Janssen.

Reopening, resignation and re-election

On September 17, 1945, the Faculty of Theology, but also the university, was reopened. An excerpt from the opening address by Rector Janssen is in the discussion of this article.

The rector emphasized the departure from the past twelve years and the obligation to start over. But two problems also become clear. One was dealing with the past. “We have a duty to openly acknowledge right and wrong!” However, National Socialism is not mentioned by name. It is a euphemism that the university has “fought against his interventions since 1934” . The confession of National Socialist injustice was restricted by collegial considerations and class solidarity; the puration, the denazification , succeeded only to a limited extent. The second problem was the university's autonomy. “But we also have a duty to protect the freedom of our workplace, the university.” There was repeated friction with the French, which led to a scandal three months later: the Senate under Janssen refused to appoint a geographer favored by the military government to habilitation. Governor Jacques Schwartz then made it clear that Janssen, elected by that plenary assembly of lecturers, had only been de facto and not de jure rector and could no longer be accepted. Janssen resigned on December 13th.

Two years later he was re-elected Rector for 1952/53. He was also dean of the medical faculty in 1947/48.

The man Sigurd Janssen

His student Klaus Hierholzer writes: “Janssen was an exemplary, fair and incorruptible person. At that time his good friend Paul Hoffmann and his Physiological Institute were staying with us. As a member of the Henkel company, Janssen apparently had ample funds available. Even so, he was always humble and lived a simple lifestyle. He owned a VW Beetle and, together with Hoffmann, often let me drive him, even to Italy and Austria. Edith Bülbring and Marthe Vogt were among his professional friends who visited us. The painter Julius Bissier , from whom Janssen had acquired some very good pictures, can often visit . Incidentally, Janssen had a flawless political past and also had close contacts with the neuropathologists Oskar Vogt and Cécile Vogt (Marthe Vogt's parents). "

Janssen set up a studio in his institute for Bissier, who was not allowed to exhibit during the twelve years of National Socialism.

He often visited Martin Heidegger in his house at Rötebuckweg 47. Janssen's car drove into the area, and in 1933 the two of them went on a paddling tour on the Danube. Later, when Janssen lived in the Sonnhalde, Heideggers were often his guests. Janssen also worked as her family doctor. The pharmacologist and the philosopher remained friends for decades.

"He grew flowers with infinite patience, and the image of the boss wandering thoughtfully through the institute garden is unforgettable to all of his former employees." To be more precise: he grew iris variants in the institute garden as well as in Sonnhalde 14. Now (2010) they are disappeared from both places.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Marie-Luise Back: The development of the Freiburg Pharmacological Institute 1907–1972. Medical dissertation, Freiburg 1986.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Klaus Starke : The history of the pharmacological institute of the University of Freiburg. Berlin, Springer-Verlag 2004. ISBN 3-540-20717-1 . On the institute's website: The history of the Pharmacological Institute of the University of Freiburg
3. ^ ^{A b} Robert Engelhorn:  Janssen, Sigurd. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 344 ( digitized version ).
4. ↑ ^{a b} S. Janssen: The gas exchange of the skeletal muscle in the tone. In: Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Archive for Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology 1927; 119: 31-55.
5. ↑ S. Janssen: About central water regulation and hypophyseal antidiuresis. In: Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Archive for Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology 1928; 135: 1-18.
6. ^ Klaus Starke: A history of Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology 1998; 358: 1–109, here page 45.
7. ↑ L. Schmidt: Pharmacology and toxicology of a new class of compounds with a laxative effect. In: Drug Research 1953; 3: 19-23.
8. ↑ S. Janssen and G. Grupp: Studies on the temperature distribution in the dog's kidney. In: Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Archive for Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology 1957; 230: 245-256.
9. ↑ E. Muscholl: Founding history and the first 25 years of the German Pharmacological Society. In: DGPT Mitteilungen 1995; No. 16, pages 29-33
10. ↑ Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Archive for Experimental Pathology and Pharmacology 1938; 190: 17-24.
11. ^ Klaus Starke: A history of Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology 1998; 358: 1–109, here page 88.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Silke Seemann: The failed self-purification: denazification and a new beginning. In: Bernd Martin (Ed.): 550 Years of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg , Volume 3, pp. 536–554. Freiburg and Munich, Alber-Verlag 2007.
13. ^ ^{A b} Eduard Seidler and Karl-Heinz Leven: The Medical Faculty of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg im Breisgau. 2nd Edition. Freiburg and Munich, Alber-Verlag 2007. ISBN 978-3-495-49606-0 .
14. ↑ Max Bruecher: Freiburg 1945. A documentation. Freiburg, Rombach Verlag 1980. ISBN 3-7930-0259-4
15. ^ Corine Defrance: Reconstruction and Mental Reorganization. In: Bernd Martin (Ed.): 550 Years of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg , Volume 3, pp. 575-590. Freiburg and Munich, Alber-Verlag 2007.
16. ↑ Ludwig Schmidt: In memoriam Sigurd Janssen. In: Drug Research 1968; 18: 1065-1066.