Franz Volhard (2 May 1872 – 24 May 1950) was a German internist born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Academic career

He studied medicine at the universities of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, and Halle. As a student his instructors included Eduard Friedrich Wilhelm Pflüger (1829–1910),

Bernhard Naunyn Bernhard Naunyn (2 September 1839 – 26 July 1925) was German pathologist born in Berlin. Biography After receiving his degree at the University of Berlin in 1863, he became an assistant to pathologist Friedrich Theodor von Frerichs (1819–1 ...

(1839–1925),

Oswald Schmiedeberg Johann Ernst Oswald Schmiedeberg (10 October 1838 – 12 July 1921) was a Baltic German pharmacologist. In 1866 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Dorpat with a thesis concerning the measurement of chloroform in blood, before ...

(1838–1921), and

Joseph von Mering Josef, Baron von Mering (28 February 1849, in Cologne – 5 January 1908, at Halle an der Saale, Germany) was a German physician. Working at the University of Strasbourg, Mering was the first person to discover (in conjunction with Oskar Minkowsk ...

(1849–1908). From 1897 to 1905 he worked at the university medical clinic at

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

under Franz Riegel (1843–1904). In 1905 he became head of the medical department at the city hospital in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, and in 1908 was named director of the ''Krankenanstalt'' in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

, now

University Hospital Mannheim The University Hospital Mannheim is a maximum care hospital with many specialisations. It currently consists of 21 specialised clinics, all situated on a historic campus in the centre of Mannheim and focuses on interdisciplinary and interprofess ...

. Afterwards, he served as a professor at the universities of Halle (from 1918) and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

(from 1927).

Medical research

Volhard made several important contributions in the fields of

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

and

nephrology Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (ren ...

. He is especially remembered for his collaborative work with

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

Karl Theodor Fahr Karl Theodor Fahr (; 3 October 1877 – 29 October 1945) was a German pathologist born in Pirmasens of the Rhineland-Palatinate. In 1903 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Giessen, afterwards continuing his studies with Eugen ...

(1877–1945) in Mannheim, where the two men carried out research of

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

diseases. The two physicians created a classification system of renal disorders, making the differentiation between degenerative ( nephroses), inflammatory (nephritides) and arteriosclerotic ( scleroses) diseases.Cat.Inist
Franz Volhard and Theodor Fahr: achievements and controversies in their research in renal disease and hypertension With Fahr, he published a classic

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

called ''Die Bright'sche Nierenkrankheit, Klinik, Pathologie und Atlas''. Volhard recognized that

constrictive pericarditis Constrictive pericarditis is a medical condition characterized by a thickened, fibrotic pericardium, limiting the heart's ability to function normally. In many cases, the condition continues to be difficult to diagnose and therefore benefits from ...

was a treatable condition, and as a result of his research with

Viktor Schmieden Viktor Schmieden (19 January 1874 – 11 October 1945) was a German surgeon born in Berlin. In 1897 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Bonn, and subsequently worked in hospitals in Göttingen, Berlin and Bonn. Later he was ...

(1874–1945), it led to the first

pericardectomy Pericardiectomy is the surgical removal of part or most of the pericardium. This operation is most commonly used to relieve constrictive pericarditis, or to remove a pericardium that is calcified and fibrous. It may also be used for severe or recur ...

for constrictive pericarditis. Volhard also performed extensive studies involving

renovascular hypertension Renovascular hypertension is a condition in which high blood pressure is caused by the kidneys' hormonal response to narrowing of the arteries supplying the kidneys. When functioning properly this hormonal axis regulates blood pressure. Due to l ...

and

uremia Uremia is the term for high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, in the blood that would be nor ...

. Regarding uremia, he divided associated symptoms into two criteria called "true uremia" and "pseudo-uremia". Pseudo-uremia was described as having symptoms of independent origin, such as cases involving elevated arterial

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...

. In 1903, Volhard was credited with the discovery of

lipase Lipase ( ) is a family of enzymes that catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats. Some lipases display broad substrate scope including esters of cholesterol, phospholipids, and of lipid-soluble vitamins and sphingomyelinases; however, these are usually tr ...

in the

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and kidney. He also developed a method of preserving cardiac specimens via a process of dehydration and the application of hot

paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes * Alkane ...

. In 1917, he joined the

German Fatherland Party The German Fatherland Party (german: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, abbreviated as DVLP) was a short-lived far-right political party active in the German Empire during the last phase of World War I. It rejected the ''Burgfriedenspolitik'' or "party ...

. In Berlin the "Franz-Volhard-Klinik" is named in his honor.

Family

Volhard was the grandfather of the Nobel laureate

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Christiane (Janni) Nüsslein-Volhard (; born 20 October 1942) is a German developmental biologist and a 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate. She is the only woman from Germany to have received a Nobel Prize in the sciences. Nü ...

and the great-grandfather of the Nobel laureate

Benjamin List Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

References

Charite-Buch
"Personal and Historical Perspectives" Hypertension, Vol 22, No. 2, August 1993, 253-256: Friedrich C. Luft and Rainier Dietz

@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volhard, Franz 1872 births 1950 deaths Physicians from Munich German Fatherland Party politicians People from the Kingdom of Bavaria University of Bonn alumni University of Strasbourg alumni Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Burials at Frankfurt Main Cemetery