Friedrich Lange (20 March 1849 – 14 May 1927) was a German surgeon and supporter of charitable institutions. He was a fraternity member of the Burschenschaft Gothia Königsberg.

Life

Friedrich Lange was born in Lonkorrek in the

Province of Prussia The Province of Prussia (; ; pl, Prowincja Prusy; csb, Prowincjô Prësë) was a province of Prussia from 1829 to 1878. Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1829 from the provinces of East Prussia and West Prussia ...

, the son of Eduard Lange, a local councillor and leaseholder. He studied medicine at the Albertus-Universität Königsberg and served as a hospital orderly in the Franco-Prussian War. He then worked as a surgeon in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

and

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

. After his marriage in 1891 he and Adele Thiel moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, initially working as senior physician in the surgery department of a German hospital, then in the ''

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

'' and finally as a consultant in the

NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

. After founding his own clinic, he became famous as a 'pioneer of German surgery in America' and for introducing

asepsis Asepsis is the state of being free from disease-causing micro-organisms (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasites). There are two categories of asepsis: medical and surgical. The modern day notion of asepsis is deri ...

to America. In 1900 he returned to Germany and made a large donation to the Palästra Albertina in Königsberg. In

Neumark The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Call ...

he founded the Kreiskrankenhaus for

Kreis Löbau Kreis is the German word for circle. Kreis may also refer to: Places * , or circles, various subdivisions roughly equivalent to counties, districts or municipalities ** Districts of Germany (including and ) ** Former districts of Prussia, al ...

. In Bischofswerder he established a hospice for the disabled. In Lonkorrek he founded a library and a Protestant church. He died of a stroke in a sanatorium in

Potsdam-Babelsberg Babelsberg () is the largest quarter (''Stadtteil'') of Potsdam, the capital city of the German state of Brandenburg. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palac ...

. A sports ground was named after him on Samitter Allee near

Tragheimer Palve Tragheimer Palve was first a suburb of and then a quarter of northern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of the Leningradsky District of Kaliningrad, Russia. Named after the Old Prussian village Tragheim, Tragheimer Palve was onc ...

in Königsberg.Robert Albinus: ''Königsberg-Lexikon''. Würzburg 2002,

References

Bibliography

Richard Armstedt Richard Armstedt Richard Armstedt (10 November 1851 – 14 April 1931) was a German philologist, educator, and historian. Armstedt, a native of Osterburg, Prussian Saxony, received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Tübing ...

: ''Geschichte der königl. Haupt- und Residenzstadt Königsberg in Preußen''. Reprint der Originalausgabe, Stuttgart 1899. *

Fritz Gause Fritz Gause (4 August 1893 – 24 December 1973) was a German historian, archivist, and curator described as the last great historian of his native city, Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), East Prussia. Gause's most important work was his three-vo ...

: ''Die Geschichte der Stadt Königsberg in Preußen''. 3 Bände, Köln 1996, * Jürgen Manthey: ''Königsberg – Geschichte einer Weltbürgerrepublik''. Hanser 2005, * Gunnar Strunz: ''Königsberg entdecken''. Berlin 2006, {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Friedrich 1849 births 1927 deaths People from Nowe Miasto County Physicians from the Province of Prussia 19th-century German physicians 20th-century German physicians German philanthropists German surgeons 20th-century surgeons University of Königsberg alumni German people of the Franco-Prussian War