Werner Borchardt

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Werner Borchardt 1930
Werner Borchardt 1930

Werner Borchardt (born November 4, 1900 in Hamburg , † December 7, 1930 at Merapi ) was a German physiologist and biometeorologist .

Life

After studying and doing a doctorate with a dissertation on biological contributions to d'Hérelle's phenomenon , Borchardt worked as a scientific assistant at the Institute for Ship and Tropical Diseases (also: Tropical Hygiene Institute) in Hamburg from October 1, 1925 - today's Bernhard-Nocht -Institute for Tropical Medicine . Later he also taught as a private lecturer at the university in his hometown .

His research focus was on the one hand on the effect of outside temperatures on hematopoiesis and blood circulation , on the other hand he examined the influences of persistent darkness and constant sunshine on the metabolism and circulation of children of different skin colors. To do this, he traveled to Sweden and twice to Lofoten - to study in the midnight sun and polar night . He then worked as a ship's doctor in West Africa and undertook in 1929 along with his Institute colleagues Prof. Otto Kestner an excursion to the then under British and French administration standing League of Nations - mandate Cameroon . He presented the results of this trip in a paper that was so impressive that Henry Heinemann, in consultation with the Dutch authorities, invited him to study in the Dutch East Indies for a year or two . Heinemann headed the branch of the Tropical Institute in Medan ; both had met at a medical conference in Marburg . After Borchardt's official leave of absence from the institute's director, Bernhard Nocht , the venture was financed by the Emergency Association of German Science , the institute's travel fund and grants from the city of Hamburg. In mid-August 1930 Borchardt set out by ship and arrived in British India on October 1 , from where the onward journey took place.

On December 7th, he was killed in an eruption of the Merapi volcano on the great Sunda island of Java . He wanted - against the advice of the local authorities - to take temperature measurements in the crater when the mountain, which has been inactive for 40 years, suddenly erupted. His body was never found and the circumstances of his death could no longer be precisely reconstructed: For example, it was reported that he was abseiling into the crater when a lava ejection occurred. He apparently wanted to investigate the outbreak on site when it fell into the molten rock, stunned by poisonous gases. In other places in the media it was speculated that he could have slipped into a crack in the lava crust or simply could no longer save himself from a lava flow. The information also varies with regard to his company. There is talk of one or two local porters as well as a European unskilled worker. It is clear that a porter returned several days after the eruption completely exhausted and said that he had fled when the eruption occurred. Borchardt also ran downhill with the other local. That porter would have warned the researcher to enter a neighboring valley, which the hamburger ignored. The porter then saw him disappear behind a ledge. Due to the great distance and the devastation after the eruption, communication with Germany was initially difficult. On December 20, for example, there was still no confirmation of Borchardt's death and a telegram exchange between Sumatra and Hamburg yielded contradicting results. His parents had meanwhile received a telegram that his car had been found at the foot of the Merapi. In a telegraph message , the relatives were informed that “they are still looking for Dr. Borchardt understood ", a rescue, however, is" as good as impossible ". Troops of the Dutch armed forces took part in an extensive search, which, however, did not reveal any further evidence of Borchardt's whereabouts.

Publications

  • W. Borchardt: Biological contributions to the d'Hérelle'schen phenomenon . Peters & Mietzner, Hamburg, 1925.
  • W. Borchardt, M. Mayer, W. Kikuth: About inclusions of erythrocytes in experimental anemia of rats [A new group of parasites?]. In: Klinische Wochenschrift , Vol. 5, No. 13, 1926, pp. 559-560.
  • W. Borchardt, M. Mayer, W. Kikuth: The infectious rat anemia triggered by spleen extirpation: aetiology , pathology and chemotherapy . Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag , Leipzig, 1927.
  • W. Borchardt, M. Mayer, W. Kikuth: Chemotherapeutic studies in the "infectious anemia of rats". In: Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift , Vol. 53, No. 1, 1927, pp. 9-10.
  • W. Borchardt, O. Kestner: Further radiation measurements north of the polar circle. In: Pflüger's archive for the entire physiology of humans and animals , Vol. 218, No. 1, 1928, pp. 469–474.
  • W. Borchardt, O. Kestner: Climatic studies in the tropics. In: Klinische Wochenschrift, Vol. 8, No. 39, 1929, pp. 1796-1801.
  • W. Borchardt: The stomach function in the artificial tropical climate. In: Klinische Wochenschrift, Vol. 9, No. 19, 1930, pp. 886-888.
  • W. Borchardt: Medical climatology . Borntraeger brothers, Berlin 1930.
  • W. Borchardt, HJ Heinemann : Tuberculosis and chlorine metabolism in the tropical climate . In: Archives for Ship and Tropical Hygiene, Volume 35, 1931, pp. 567-577.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c An accident in the crater? In: Hamburg Foreign Journal . December 20, 1930.
  2. ↑ The fate of Dr. Werner Borchardts. In: Hamburg Foreign Journal. December 23, 1930.
  3. ↑ a b c Hamburg scientists perished in the volcano of Merapi? In: Hamburg Correspondent . December 20, 1930.
  4. ↑ a b The unexplained death of Professor Borchardt. In: Frankfurter Zeitung . December 21, 1930.
  5. ↑ A German researcher perished. In: Frankfurter Zeitung. December 20, 1930.
personal data
SURNAME Borchardt, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physiologist and climatologist
DATE OF BIRTH 4th November 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH 7th December 1930
Place of death on Merapi