Theodor von der Wense

Theodor von der Wense (born January 29, 1904 in Gmunden ; † April 18, 1977 in Innsbruck ) was an Austrian physician. At the University of Innsbruck he worked as a university professor for pathology and as rector.

Life

→ Main article : Wense (noble family)

Theodor came from the old Lower Saxon nobility. Even at high school, he was interested in the natural sciences. He studied medicine at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena , the Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg and the University of Innsbruck . After completing his doctorate here in 1930, he joined the institute after completing his clinical training and later became its director. On the advice of his teacher Gustav Bayer , he also studied chemistry and zoology at the institute and obtained a doctorate in philosophy in 1936 .

Hormone research

In 1938 , Wense completed his habilitation in experimental pathology, in which, following the example of the institute's director, he turned to hormone research. Together with Bayer, he succeeded in detecting hormones in single cells and invertebrates. His studies on the effects and occurrence of choline , acetylcholine and adrenaline in Paramecia as well as of adrenaline in worms and insects received honorable recognition when Wense was the first Austrian to join the American Endocrine Society . Thanks to Bayer's personal relationships with Aschheim , Wense was able to be the first in Austria to conduct studies on the biological pregnancy reactions ( Aschheim-Zondek reaction ) that were newly developed at the time . In the course of time, extensive quantitative hormone analysis developed from this direction of work. He remembered his friendship with Bayer all his life and gave it expression, also in his inauguration speech as rector, in which he spoke of the "role model of my former head of the institute, my unforgettable teacher and fatherly friend before 1938, Prof. Gustav Bayer" . This connection to the teacher and subject area was also the mainspring that made Wense see his later life task in the re-establishment of the subject after the war.

Pathophysiology

After the Institute for General and Experimental Pathology was closed in 1938, Wense moved as an assistant to Richard Wagner and later Ferdinand Scheminzky at the Institute of Physiology, where he was able to continue pathological physiology as a branch of physiology and also habilitated in this subject in 1939. After the war, his primary goal was “to restore general and experimental pathology, this typically Austrian subject, to independence and full recognition”. He devoted much of his time and energy to this difficult task. After Wense had been the elected lecturer representative in the college of professors for ten years, he was appointed adjunct professor in 1953, associate professor and head of the institute in 1955 and full professor in 1962.

Dean and Rector

In the years 1962–1965, the medical faculty elected him three times as dean . In 1968, in the 100th year of the faculty, he was elected rector of the university , for the first time by a ballot among the students . With the inauguration in the city hall , at which the student body also had a say, he broke new ground. He advocated "honest striving for progress and freedom, but also steadfast strength against arrogance and lack of understanding that are brought into us from outside". Thanks to his clever administration and negotiating skills, his rectorate year was undisturbed and calm. In 1970, in the 300th anniversary year of the university, he was Vice Rector . Last but not least, this dedication to the university is likely to have overwhelmed Wense's strength. A serious illness, from which he could no longer recover, hindered his work from then on. He witnessed the inauguration of the new house and institute, but did not move into his emeritus room. He died in Innsbruck at the age of 73.

research

Wense has worked scientifically in numerous areas: on the pathophysiology of the circulatory system, on histamine and combustion, physiology of nutrition, on the mode of action and effects of the Gastein thermal water. Among other things, he even dealt with medical questions of space flight. The main focus of his extensive scientific work, however, lies in the field of internal secretion, in particular the adrenal gland and the gonads. Accordingly, the development and expansion of quantitative hormone analyzes took up a large part of the work of the institute. At that time, the hormone laboratory was the only special laboratory in the Tyrol - Vorarlberg - Salzburg - South Tyrol area for clarifying certain clinical-endocrinological questions and was available to clinics, hospitals and resident doctors. Wense has given the institute a direction of work that is still highly topical and significant and was also retained and expanded by his successor as one of the main focuses of the institute's work.

Teaching

Wense always attached great importance to teaching. "My enthusiasm for research medicine stems from the unforgettable impression that the lectures of great academic teachers made on me". He believed that the training of capable doctors was one of the faculty's most pressing tasks. The task of experimental pathology is to act as a bridge between the preclinical and clinical stages of study and, at the same time, to familiarize the adolescent medical practitioners with scientific work and to enable them to "carry out research work or at least understand it". The clear didactic structure and the structure of his lectures, based on the tradition of the institute, which traced and outlined the development of a problem from historical beginnings to the latest findings, is fondly remembered by his students. Likewise, his endeavors through synthetic synopsis to bring his listeners closer to the unity of medicine despite specialization and fragmentation. "This is of the greatest importance in our time of the threatened dissolution of medicine into specialist areas". The nature of his lectures, as well as his strict standards for the preparation of scientific manuscripts, have remained models for his assistants.

For him, the re-establishment of general and experimental pathology in Austria, its anchoring as a compulsory and examination subject in the new study regulations, as well as the participation in the construction of the new building of the medical-theoretical institute, in particular the planning of the new institute after years of pressing space shortage the greatest satisfaction for his efforts.

Corps student

In 1924 he was reciprocated in the Corps Gothia Innsbruck . He took great care of his offspring. During the reconstitution of the corps in 1951, Wense was again active. Honorary member since 1954, he was a long-time member of the board and chairman of the old manors of his corps.

See also : List of corps student rectors

Honors

Numerous professional societies counted Wense among their members. His work was recognized by the award of the Great Silver Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria , the Decoration of Honor of the State of Tyrol and the Gold Decoration of Honor of the German Circle of Friends of the University.

Fonts

• The Austrian People's Nutrition , Tyrol: Prinzhorn-Verl., 1950
• The effect of the thermal water from Badgastein on the motor skills of the white mouse , Vienna: Springer-Verl., 1950
• The mouse in the trembling cage , Bad Gastein: Verl. D. Kurverwaltg, 1949
• Gorse poison and fountain spirit , Bad Gastein: Verl. D. Kurverwaltg, 1948

Web links

• Literature by and about Theodor von der Wense in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wense's inaugural speech as rector: The subject, the office and the person . Publications of the University of Innsbruck, 15 (1969)
2. ↑ Quotes from: Obituary for the em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. et Dr. phil. Theodor Wense by Kurt Loewit in Ber. nat.-med. Ver. Innsbruck Volume 65 pp. 207-212, Innsbruck, Oct. 1978.
3. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 73/179.
4. ↑ Einst und Jetzt, Vol. 20 (1975), p. 180.