Heinrich Georg Küchler (23 April 1811,

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

– 29 March 1873, Darmstadt) was a German

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

. From 1828 he studied medicine at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

, and after graduation visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

for study. In 1834 he returned to Darmstadt, where he started a private ophthalmic practice. In 1836 he was arrested unexpectedly because of his actions in association with a ''Burschenschaft'' (fraternal organization) at

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

. For nearly three years he was imprisoned, obtaining his freedom in January 1839. After his release, he resumed his ophthalmic practice in Darmstadt.ADB:Küchler, Heinrich – Wikisource
at

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

In 1844, in addition to his private practice, he became a physician at the ''Mathilden-Landeskrankenhaus'', a regional hospital in Darmstadt. In 1868 he received the title of ''Obermedizinalrat'' (chief medical advisor) and during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

(1870–71), he was in charge of a ''Reservelazarette''. He is credited with developing about 1835 the first symbol

eye chart __NOTOC__ An eye chart is a chart used to measure visual acuity comprising lines of optotypes in ranges of sizes. Optotypes are the letters or symbols shown on an eye chart. Eye charts are often used by health care professionals, such as optometr ...

, consisting of figures of various objects (birds, frogs, farm implements, cannons, etc.) cut from calendars and almanacs, which he glued to a sheet of paper in decreasing size. Several years later, he issued an eye chart using letters of the alphabet in a graduated series. The chart had twelve lines with the larger letters on the topmost line – also the lines decreased in size to the bottom line. The chart was first published in 1843 and was not accepted generally at the time.

Selected works

* ''Eine neue operative Heilmethode der sämmtlichen wahren Hornhautstaphylome'', 1853 (A new surgical method of treatment for

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

l staphyloma). * ''Die Doppelnaht zur Damm-Scham-Scheidennath'',

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

, 1863 (The double-seam to the perineal-pubic-sheathing). * ''Sanitätsdienst im Grossherzogthum Hessen'', 1866 – (Medical service in the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

).BiuSante
biography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuchler, Heinrich 1811 births 1873 deaths University of Giessen alumni Physicians from Darmstadt German ophthalmologists