Hermann Oppenheim (1 January 1858 – 5 May 1919) was one of the leading

neurologists Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Life and work

Oppenheim is the son of Juda Oppenheim (1824–1891), the long-time rabbi of the Warburg synagogue community , and his wife, Cäcilie, née Steeg (1822–1898). He studied medicine at the Universities of

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 ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

and

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 ...

. He started his career 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 ...

-Hospital in Berlin as an assistant to

Karl Westphal Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (23 March 1833, in Berlin – 27 January 1890, in Kreuzlingen) was a German psychiatrist from Berlin. He was the son of Otto Carl Friedrich Westphal (1800–1879) and Karoline Friederike Heine and the father of Alexan ...

(1833–1890). In 1891 Oppenheim opened a successful private hospital in Berlin. In 1894, Oppenheim was the author of a textbook on nervous diseases titled ''Lehrbuch der Nervenkrankheiten für Ärzte und Studierende'', a book that soon became a standard in his profession. It was published in several editions and languages, and is considered one of the best textbooks on neurology ever written. He also published significant works on

tabes dorsalis Tabes dorsalis is a late consequence of neurosyphilis, characterized by the slow degeneration (specifically, demyelination) of the neural tracts primarily in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord (nerve root). These patients have lancinating n ...

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, anterior

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

and traumatic

neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

. In the field of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

, he published articles on

metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important r ...

with the aid of

Nathan Zuntz Nathan Zuntz (6 October 1847, in Bonn – 22 March 1920, in Berlin) was a German physiologist born in Bonn. He was a pioneer of modern altitude physiology and aviation medicine. Academic career He studied medicine at the University of Bonn, wh ...

(1847–1920). In 1889 he published a treatise on traumatic neuroses that was harshly criticized by eminent physicians that included

Jean-Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurology, neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise Augustine Gleizes. Charcot ...

(1825–1893) and

Max Nonne Max Nonne (13 January 1861, Hamburg – 12 August 1959, Hamburg) was a German neurologist. Biography Max Nonne received his early education at the ''Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums'' in Hamburg, and later studied medicine at the universities of ...

(1861–1959); the reason being due to Oppenheim's assertion that

psychological trauma Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...

caused organic changes that perpetuated psychic neuroses. His expertise involving brain disease led directly to the first successful removal of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

, an operation that was performed by a physician named R. Köhler. With

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

Fedor Krause Fedor Krause (10 March 1857 – in Friedland in Niederschlesien; 20 September 1937 in Bad Gastein) was a German neurosurgeon who was native of Friedland (Lower Silesia). Biography He originally studied music at the Conservatoire in Berl ...

(1857–1937), he reported the first successful removal of a

pineal The pineal gland, conarium, or epiphysis cerebri, is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cycle ...

tumor. He coined the term "'' dystonia musculorum deformans''" for a type of childhood torsion disease he described, a disorder that was later to become known as "Ziehen-Oppenheim syndrome" (named along with German

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 ...

Theodor Ziehen Georg Theodor Ziehen (12 November 1862 – 29 December 1950) was a German neurologist and psychiatrist born in Frankfurt am Main. He was the son of noted author, Eduard Ziehen (1819–1884). Education and career As a gymnasium student, Ziehen s ...

1862–1950). Also, another name for

amyotonia congenita Hypotonia is a state of low muscle tone (the amount of tension or resistance to stretch in a muscle), often involving reduced muscle strength. Hypotonia is not a specific medical disorder, but a potential manifestation of many different diseases a ...

is "Oppenheim's disease". His son

Hans Oppenheim Hans Oppenheim (Berlin, 25 April 1892 - Edinburgh, 19 August 1965) was a German-born conductor. He was son of the Jewish German neurologist Hermann Oppenheim. Oppenheim emigrated to England and was first assistant to Fritz Busch at Glyndebourne Ope ...

became an opera conductor and emigrated to Britain following the Nazi takeover.

Selected writings

* ''Die traumatischen Neurosen nach den in der Nervenklinik der Charité in den letzten 5 Jahren gesammelten Beobachtungen''. 1889; second edition, 1892; 3rd edition, 1918. * ''Weitere Mitteilungen über die traumatischen Neurosen''. 1891. * ''Lehrbuch der Nervenkrankheiten für Ärzte und Studierende''. two volumes, 1894; fifth edition, 1908; seventh edition, 1923. English translation as "Textbook of Nervous Disease". 1911, also translated into Russian, Spanish and Italian. * ''De Geschwülste des Gehirns''. 1896. also in

Hermann Nothnagel Carl Wilhelm Hermann Nothnagel (28 September 1841 – 7 July 1905) was a German internist born in Alt-Lietzegöricke ( pl, Stare Łysogórki), near Bärwalde in der Neumark ( pl, Mieszkowice), Neumark, Brandenburg. Career The son of a ph ...

's Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie. 1896. * ''Die syphilitischen Erkrankungen des Gehirns''. in Hermann Nothnagel's Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie. 1896. * ''Die Encephalitis und der Hirnabszess''. in Hermann Nothnagel's Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie, 1897 * ''Psychotherapeutische Briefe''. 1906; third edition, 1910. * ''Operative Erfolge bei Geschwülsten der Sehhügel- under Vierhügel gegend''. Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, 1913, 50: 2316–2322. (Successful removal of

tumour). * ''Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Kriegsverletzungen des peripherischen Nervensystems''. 1917. * ''Die ersten Zeichen der Nervosität im Kindesalter''. 1917. * ''Stand und Lehre von kriegs- und Unfallneurosen''. 1918. Obituary by Richard Cassirer (1868-1925), in Berliner klinische Wochenschrift, 1919, 52: 669–671.Bibliography
at

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 ...

Notes

References

''Hermann Oppenheim''
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oppenheim, Hermann 1858 births 1919 deaths People from Warburg People from the Province of Westphalia 19th-century German Jews German neurologists University of Bonn alumni History of psychiatry Physicians of the Charité