Julius Hübner Bildnis Ernst Ludwig Heim 1833

Ernst Ludwig Heim (22 July 1747 – 15 September 1834) was a German physician and naturalist born in Solz,

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. He was popular for providing free medical treatment in Berlin. As a naturalist Heim influenced

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

and

Christian Konrad Sprengel Christian Konrad Sprengel (22 September 1750 – 7 April 1816) was a German naturalist, theologist, and teacher. He is most famous for his research on plant sexuality. Sprengel was the first to recognize that the function of flowers was to ...

Early life

Heim was the son of pastor Johann Ludwig Heim (1704–1785). He went to Halle to study in 1766 and received his doctorate in 1772. He studied medicine, botany, astronomy, natural law and philosophy. He then served as (

city physician City physician (German: ; , , from Latin ) was a historical title in the Late Middle Ages for a physician appointed by the city council. The city physician was responsible for the health of the population, particularly the poor, and the sanitary ...

) in

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

(1776). He travelled across the Netherlands, France and England and visited hospitals and examined public health. Heim married Charlotte Maeker in 1780 and in April 1783 they moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

with their young daughter and lived at the

Gendarmenmarkt The Gendarmenmarkt ( en, Gut Market) is a square in Berlin and the site of an architectural ensemble including the Berlin concert hall and the French and German Churches. In the centre of the square stands a monumental statue of poet Fri ...

. He opened a practice in Markgrafenstraße where he had a system of treating poor patients for free in the early morning. In 1799 he introduced smallpox vaccination in Berlin using cowpox inoculation based on

Edward Jenner Edward Jenner, (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was a British physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines, and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...

's work. He was an expert in the diagnosis of diseases and introduced novel methods including using colour and smell to identify diseases. In 1822, in recognition of decades of altruistic service, and on the 50th anniversary of earning his doctorate, Heim was made an honorary citizen of Berlin. In Germany, numerous landmarks bear his name, and he is commemorated on a 1984

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

. In addition, over sixteen biographies on Heim have been published. Stamps_of_Germany_(Berlin)_1984,_MiNr_723

Heim was the physician who tried to treat

Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie; 10 March 1776 – 19 July 1810) was Queen of Prussia as the wife of King Frederick William III. The couple's happy, though short-lived, marriage produced nine child ...

(Queen Luise of Prussia) but failed to prevent her death. He was for a period of time was a teacher to 8-year old

Tegel Tegel () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the Berlin borough of Reinickendorf on the shore of Lake Tegel. The Tegel locality, the second largest in area (after Köpenick) of the 96 Berlin districts, also includes the neighbourhood of ''Saatwinkel'' ...

. He visited on horseback and gave instructions in botany, explaining the twenty-four Linnean classes. They also went out on botanical excursions with

Carl Sigismund Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the Americas, American c ...

. He also influenced the

who came to him for treatment. Sprengel took to botany thanks to Heim's suggestion that he needed to spend more time outdoors. The plant genus ''

Heimia ''Heimia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the loosestrife family, Lythraceae. It contains two or three species of closely related shrubs commonly known as sun opener or shrubby yellowcrest. They are native to the Americas, from northern Arge ...

'' is named in his honor. Ehrengrab_Mehringdamm_21_(Kreuz)_Ernst_Ludwig_Heim

Heim died on 15 September 1834 in his bed and Berliners escorted the carriage of his body to the cemetery at Halleschen gate in large numbers. A family grave is marked for his wife and him.

References

External links

Der alte Heim : Leben und Wirken Ernst Ludwig Heim's (1846)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heim, Ernst Ludwig 1747 births 1834 deaths People from Schmalkalden-Meiningen 18th-century German physicians