M. Krischel

Nobel Prize nominees and the rise of urology in Europe around 1900.

PurposeRecent historical research has reconstructed the roads leading to the Nobel Prize for the trained urologists Werner Forssmann (1904–1979) in 1956 and Charles Huggins (1901–1997) in 1966. However, the story of urology and the Nobel Prize does not start and end with the laureates. Taking James Israel (1848–1926), Félix Guyon (1831–1920), and Peter J Freyer (1852–1921) as examples, this paper shows that pioneers in urology were in fact runners-up for the award much earlier.MethodsThe study is based on an analysis of original files in the Nobel Prize archive in Stockholm, scientific publications of the early twentieth century, and secondary literature.Result and conclusionWe argue that Israel’s, Guyon’s, and Freyer’s candidacies reflect not only scientific trends and controversies in urology at the turn of twentieth century, but that the development of the specialty itself was reflected in nominations of physicians working on problems of the genito-urinary system.

Remembering Charles B. Huggins’ Nobel Prize for Hormonal Treatment of Prostatic Cancer at its 50th Anniversary

Charles B. Huggins received the Nobel Prize in 1966. Based on archival sources from the Nobel archive we have found that nominators emphasised the practical therapeutic applications of his discoveries that were showing 25 yr after his key publications.

[Urology and National Socialism. Paul Rosenstein 1875-1964, the disrupted biography of a Jewish urologist].

ZusammenfassungDer Lebensweg des jüdischen Urologen Paul Rosenstein (1875–1964) charakterisiert exemplarisch das Schicksals eines Wissenschaftlers zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhundert im Spannungsfeld zwischen beginnender Fachetablierung der Urologie an großstädtischen Krankenhäusern, beruflichem Erfolg sowie massiven Einschnitten während der NS Zeit und Flucht aus Nazi Deutschland über ein von wirtschaftlicher Depression geprägtes und wenig aufnahmewilliges New York nach Brasilien, wo er seinen Lebensabend verbrachte.AbstractThe biography of Paul Rosenstein (1875–1964) serves as an example of the fate of a Jewish scientist at the beginning of the twentieth century in an area of conflict between the development of urology as a specialty at greater urban hospitals, professional achievements as a surgeon and scientist, drastic breaks during Nazi era and escape from Nazi terror via New York to Brazil.The biography of Paul Rosenstein (1875-1964) serves as an example of the fate of a Jewish scientist at the beginning of the twentieth century in an area of conflict between the development of urology as a specialty at greater urban hospitals, professional achievements as a surgeon and scientist, drastic breaks during Nazi era and escape from Nazi terror via New York to Brazil.

Carl Posner (1854–1928)

ZusammenfassungIn diesem Beitrag beschreiben wir das Leben und Werk des Berliner Arztes Carl Posner (1854–1928). Wir stellen seine herausragende Rolle als Mitglied der Gründergeneration der Urologie, Andrologie und Sexualwissenschaft in Deutschland heraus. Seine Arbeit in Klinik, Forschung und der wissenschaftlichen Presse seiner Zeit zeigen die zentralen Rollen, welche die von ihm behandelten Gebiete einnahmen. Schließlich fragen wir nach Posners Platz in der Erinnerungskultur der Urologie und Sexualwissenschaft.AbstractIn this contribution we describe the life and work of the Berlin physician Carl Posner (1854–1928). We present his central role as a member of the founding generation of urology, andrology, and academic sexology in Germany. His clinical work, research and publication illustrate the central role these new disciplines played in the urological field. Finally, we describe how Posner is remembered in the history of urology and sexology.

Study of deaths by suicide of homosexual prisoners in Nazi Sachsenhausen concentration camp

Living conditions in Nazi concentration camps were harsh and inhumane, leading many prisoners to commit suicide. Sachsenhausen (Oranienburg, Germany) was a concentration camp that operated from 1936 to 1945. More than 200,000 people were detained there under Nazi rule. This study analyzes deaths classified as suicides by inmates in this camp, classified as homosexuals, both according to the surviving Nazi files. This collective was especially repressed by the Nazi authorities. Data was collected from the archives of Sachsenhausen Memorial and the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen. Original death certificates and autopsy reports were reviewed. Until the end of World War II, there are 14 death certificates which state “suicide” as cause of death of prisoners classified as homosexuals, all of them men aged between 23 and 59 years and of various religions and social strata. Based on a population of 1,200 prisoners classified as homosexuals, this allows us to calculate a suicide rate of 1,167/100,000 (over the period of eight years) for this population, a rate 10 times higher than for global inmates (111/100,000). However, our study has several limitations: not all suicides are registered; some murders were covered-up as suicides; most documents were lost during the war or destroyed by the Nazis when leaving the camps and not much data is available from other camps to compare. We conclude that committing suicides in Sachsenhausen was a common practice, although accurate data may be impossible to obtain.

Autonomy, Heteronomy, and Bioethics in BioShock

The digital game BioShock addresses questions about human enhancement, unbounded biomedical research and unregulated technology. Our analysis is situated in an interdisciplinary field between media studies, the history of ideas, and bioethics. We focus on the processes of generating meaning and knowledge while playing a game, and therefore on the context in which the game is played and how it may be understood by different audiences. What marks this medium as potentially more powerful than movies or novels is that the player interacts with the game and participates in both the narrative and the ludic experience.

Etablierung von Urologischen Universitätskliniken in NRW@@@Establishment of university departments of urology in North Rhine–Westphalia: Das Aachener Modell@@@The Aachen model

ZusammenfassungDie Gründung universitärer und nichtuniversitärer urologischer Kliniken verlief sowohl in Ost- wie Westdeutschland in einer schwierigen Situation. Gerade der integralistische Standpunkt chirurgischer Ordinarien bis in die 1970er Jahre behinderte lange eine rasche Entwicklung. In Nordrhein-Westfalen wurden vielfach die Leiter von städtischen Krankenhausabteilungen (Aachen – Bochum/Herne) oder Oberärzte sich differenzierender chirurgischer Kliniken mit urologischer Expertise (Düsseldorf, Essen, Bonn, Köln) eingesetzt.AbstractThe foundation of university departments of urology in postwar East and West Germany faced some opposition by some university professors of surgery who wanted to preserve the unity of their discipline. In North Rhine–Westphalia, heads of municipal hospitals or senior members of university hospitals’ staff often received the first chaired professorships of urology.

[Establishment of university departments of urology in North Rhine-Westphalia: the Aachen model].

ZusammenfassungDie Gründung universitärer und nichtuniversitärer urologischer Kliniken verlief sowohl in Ost- wie Westdeutschland in einer schwierigen Situation. Gerade der integralistische Standpunkt chirurgischer Ordinarien bis in die 1970er Jahre behinderte lange eine rasche Entwicklung. In Nordrhein-Westfalen wurden vielfach die Leiter von städtischen Krankenhausabteilungen (Aachen – Bochum/Herne) oder Oberärzte sich differenzierender chirurgischer Kliniken mit urologischer Expertise (Düsseldorf, Essen, Bonn, Köln) eingesetzt.AbstractThe foundation of university departments of urology in postwar East and West Germany faced some opposition by some university professors of surgery who wanted to preserve the unity of their discipline. In North Rhine–Westphalia, heads of municipal hospitals or senior members of university hospitals’ staff often received the first chaired professorships of urology.

German Urological Associations under National Socialism

ZusammenfassungDie 1907 gegründete Deutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie war eigentlich eine deutsch-österreichische Gesellschaft, in der jüdische und jüdischstämmige Ärzte wichtige Rollen eingenommen hatten. Zum Zeitpunkt der nationalsozialistischen Machtergreifung 1933 war mit Hans Rubritius ein Österreicher Vorsitzender der Gesellschaft. Der nicht „reichsdeutsche“ Vorsitz und die Ausgrenzung der jüdischen Kollegen aus der Fachgesellschaft und ärztlichen Praxis führten zu einer Lähmung der Gesellschaft für Urologie, die bis Rubritius‘ Tod 1943 anhielt. Gleichzeitig wurde Mitte der 1930er Jahre in Deutschland die Gesellschaft Reichsdeutscher Urologen gegründet, deren Mitglieder sich an nationalsozialistischer Gesundheitspolitik orientieren und im Gegenzug fachpolitische und persönliche Vorteile erhielten.AbstractThe Deutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie (German Urological Association), established in 1907, was a German-Austrian medical society in which Jewish physicians held important positions. When the Nazis seized power in 1933, the Austrian Hans Rubritius was president of the society. The non-German presidency and the exclusion of Jewish colleagues from the professional society and medical practice led to a halt of the society’s activities. At the same time in the mid 1930s, German urologists founded the Gesellschaft Reichsdeutscher Urologen (Association of Reichs-German Urologists) whose members aligned themselves with Nazi health policies and in turn received professional and personal benefits.

Die 1907 gegründete „Deutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie“ und die „Gesellschaft Reichsdeutscher Urologen“ im Nationalsozialismus@@@German Urological Associations under National Socialism

ZusammenfassungDie 1907 gegründete Deutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie war eigentlich eine deutsch-österreichische Gesellschaft, in der jüdische und jüdischstämmige Ärzte wichtige Rollen eingenommen hatten. Zum Zeitpunkt der nationalsozialistischen Machtergreifung 1933 war mit Hans Rubritius ein Österreicher Vorsitzender der Gesellschaft. Der nicht „reichsdeutsche“ Vorsitz und die Ausgrenzung der jüdischen Kollegen aus der Fachgesellschaft und ärztlichen Praxis führten zu einer Lähmung der Gesellschaft für Urologie, die bis Rubritius‘ Tod 1943 anhielt. Gleichzeitig wurde Mitte der 1930er Jahre in Deutschland die Gesellschaft Reichsdeutscher Urologen gegründet, deren Mitglieder sich an nationalsozialistischer Gesundheitspolitik orientieren und im Gegenzug fachpolitische und persönliche Vorteile erhielten.AbstractThe Deutsche Gesellschaft für Urologie (German Urological Association), established in 1907, was a German-Austrian medical society in which Jewish physicians held important positions. When the Nazis seized power in 1933, the Austrian Hans Rubritius was president of the society. The non-German presidency and the exclusion of Jewish colleagues from the professional society and medical practice led to a halt of the society’s activities. At the same time in the mid 1930s, German urologists founded the Gesellschaft Reichsdeutscher Urologen (Association of Reichs-German Urologists) whose members aligned themselves with Nazi health policies and in turn received professional and personal benefits.