Edgar Otto Conrad von Gierke (9 February 1877, in
Breslau – 21 October 1945, in
Karlsruhe) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
Jewish pathologist who specialized in
glycogenesis
Glycogenesis is the process of glycogen synthesis, in which glucose molecules are added to chains of glycogen for storage. This process is activated during rest periods following the Cori cycle, in the liver, and also activated by insulin in re ...
and discovered
glycogen storage disease type I (formerly known as von Gierke disease) in 1929.
Early life
Edgar was born in 1877 the
Prussian province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...
in
Breslau to a famous
Pomeranian German family. He was the son of the noted legal scholar
Otto von Gierke and Marie Caecilie Elise (Lili) née Loening (1850–1936). Edgar had a sister named
Anna von Gierke and a brother named Julius.
Marie was an
Evangelical Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
but her parents had converted from
Judaism to Christianity in the 1840s prior to her birth. Thus, under the racial laws of German Nazi rule, she was considered to be Jewish as was Edgar, who identified as a
Protestant.
As a result, Edgar was labeled "Mischling 1. Grades" ("half-breed 1st degree") by the Nazi party.
In 1896, von Gierke served one year as a military volunteer in the Silesian Field Artillery Regiment and subsequently served as a staff surgeon of the reserve during
World War I.
He participated in the
Battle of Lorraine.
Education and career
He received his medical doctorate at
Heidelberg University in 1901 and became a lecturer at the
University of Freiburg in 1904.
Several years later he became a
prosector at the municipal hospital in
Karlsruhe. In 1908, von Gierke took over the managing position of the Pathological-Bacteriological Institute of the Karlsruhe Municipal Hospitals for his colleague
Ernst Schwalbe Ernst Theodor Karl Schwalbe (26 January 1871 – 16 March 1920) was a German pathologist, who specialized in teratological research.
Schwalbe was born in Berlin. He studied medicine at the universities of Strassburg, Berlin and Heidelberg, and ...
and retained this position for nearly 30 years.
In 1911, von Gierke also became an associate professor of
bacteriology at the
Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe. During his career, he published the highly regarded on
anatomy book ''Taschenbuch der pathologischen Anatomie'' (Pocketbook of Pathological Anatomy).
von Gierke disease
von Gierke published a seminal article in 1929 detailing his discovery of a newly described
glycogen storage disease
A glycogen storage disease (GSD, also glycogenosis and dextrinosis) is a metabolic disorder caused by an enzyme deficiency affecting glycogen synthesis, glycogen breakdown, or glucose breakdown, typically in muscles and/or liver cells.
GSD has ...
that affected the liver and kidneys that he discovered on an autopsy of an affected child. He originally termed the disease "Hepato-Nephromegalia glykogenica". von Gierke's accomplishment was later rewarded and the disease was later given the eponymous distinction of being known as von Gierke disease, which was subsequently renamed to
glycogen storage disease type I.
Nazi Germany
von Gierke was forced to prematurely retire by the
Nazi's
Third Reich in September 1937 and subsequently forced to come out of retirement and manage the
pathology department at the Karlsruhe municipal hospital due to a lack of personnel.
He was again forcibly retired in 1940 when Richard Böhmig, whom he temporarily replaced while Böhmig served in
World War II, returned to his service at the municipal hospital after being discharged from his military service.
von Gierke's views on the Nazi party are poorly understood due to a lack of information. A few letters that von Gierke signed "Heil Hitler" have been recovered and on a Nazi party-administered political questionnaire he stated that he was a member of the Nazi groups known as the
German Labor Front
The German Labour Front (german: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, ; DAF) was the labour organisation under the Nazi Party which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
History
As early as March 1933, ...
, the ''Reichsbund der Deutschen Beamten'' (Reich's Union of German Civil Servants), and the
National Socialist German Doctors' League
The National Socialist German Doctors' League (''Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Ärztebund'', abbreviated as NSDÄB or NSD-Ärztebund) was a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating the German medical profession within the f ...
, but it is thought by modern history scholars that such membership and actions were a result of political pressure and expectations rather than due to truly sympathizing with the Nazi party.
Personal life
He married Julie Braun in 1912 and fathered four children. One of his son,
Henning von Gierke, become an eminent acoustical engineer and scientist.
[ ]
In 1945, von Gierke died from an unknown progressive heart disease at the age of 68.
Awards
For his military service as a surgeon during World War I, von Gierke received the
Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class and the
Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield.
Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...
2nd class as well as swords of the
Order of the Zähringer Lion.
A street in Karslruhe was named after him in his honor.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gierke, Edgar von
1877 births
1945 deaths
Physicians from Wrocław
German bacteriologists
Heidelberg University alumni
Jewish physicians
German pathologists
People from the Province of Silesia
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class