Ludwig Külz (18 February 1875 - 1938) was a German colonial physician born in Borna. He was a twin brother to liberal politician

Wilhelm Külz Wilhelm Külz (18 February 1875 – 10 April 1948) was a German liberal politician of the National Liberal Party, the German Democratic Party (DDP) and later the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD). He held public office both in the Germ ...

(1875-1948). Ludwig Külz earned his medical doctorate in 1899, and became a doctor with the German Imperial Navy. From 1902 until 1912 he was a colonial doctor in

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

and

Kamerun Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern ...

, where he was tasked with dealing with the problem of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. Külz used medical arguments such as malaria prevention to justify the racial between blacks and whites in the German colonies as hygienically necessary. Wolfgang U. Eckart: ''Politische »Machtergreifung« und medizinische Wissenschaft: Das Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses vom 14. Juli 1933.'' In: Christoph Gradmann, Oliver von Mengersen: ''Das Ende der Weimarer Republik und die Nationalsozialistische Machtergreifung, Vorträge Heidelberger Historiker in der Reichspräsident Friedrich Ebert Gedenkstätte.'' Manutius Verlag, Heidelberg 1994, ISBN 3-925678-48-4, S. 155–156. (Zu Ludwig Külz, der dem »Bastardisierungs«-Problem bei Kindern, die in Ehen zwischen weißen Siedlern und farbigen Eingeborenen geboren wurden, entgegentrat) With

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 ...

Alfred Leber (1881-1954), he was part of a mission to

German New Guinea German New Guinea () consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups, and was part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , became a German protectorate in 188 ...

''(Medizinisch-demographischen Deutsch-Neuguinea-Expedition)'' in 1913–14. On this expedition was artist

Emil Nolde Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early ...

(1867-1956), who created

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

paintings of New Guinea. In 1915 he was promoted to senior medical officer, soon afterwards becoming a naval chief physician (1916). His best-known publication is ''Tropenarzt im Afrikanischen Busch'', a book that involved Külz's experiences with

tropical medicine Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions. Physicians in this field diagnose and tr ...

in Africa.

References

* ''This article is based on a translation of an article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

.'' 1875 births 1938 deaths People from Borna People from the Kingdom of Saxony German military doctors German twins German tropical physicians {{Germany-med-bio-stub Proponents of scientific racism White supremacists