Anton Ludwig Ernst Horn (August 24, 1774 – September 27, 1848) was a German physician who was a native of Braunschweig. In 1797 he received his doctorate from the University of Göttingen, and later worked as a physician at the clinical institute in Braunschweig. For a short period of time he was a professor of medicine at the Universities of Wittenberg (1804) and Erlangen (1805), and in 1806 went to work at the medical hospital at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

in Berlin. One of his well-known students was

Moritz Heinrich Romberg Moritz Heinrich Romberg (11 November 1795 – 16 June 1873) was a German physician and neurologist, born in Meiningen, who published his classic textbook in sections between 1840 and 1846; Edward Henry Sieveking translated it into English in 1853 ...

(1795–1873). Horn is considered the first practicing

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

at the Charité. In the early 19th century, psychology as a scientific discipline was in its infancy, and barbaric, coercive methods were generally used to treat mental patients. Horn believed that mental illness was largely due to physical suffering, and used an assortment of mechanical devices for therapeutic purposes. He extensively used

centrifugal Centrifugal (a key concept in rotating systems) may refer to: *Centrifugal casting (industrial), Centrifugal casting (silversmithing), and Spin casting (centrifugal rubber mold casting), forms of centrifigual casting *Centrifugal clutch *Centrifug ...

devices such as the "rotating bed" and "rotating chair" for treatment of

hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

at the Charité, and reportedly believed that his patients derived benefits from such practices. In 1803 Horn published a practical textbook on

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

titled ''Handbuch der praktischen Arzneimittellehre für Ärzte und Wundärzte''. He is also credited for providing an early description of tabes dorsalis.

References

* ''This article incorporates translated text from an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

, whose sources include''
ADB:Horn, Ernst
In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

(ADB). Band 13, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, S. 135 f.

External links

Centrifuge “Therapy” for Psychiatric Patients in Germany in the Early 1800s

NCBI; Venery, the spinal cord, and tabes dorsalis before Romberg: the contribution of Ernst Horn German psychiatrists 1774 births 1848 deaths Physicians from Braunschweig People from the Duchy of Brunswick Academic staff of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg Physicians of the Charité {{Germany-psychiatrist-stub