[Craniofacial abnormalities in the Charité Virchow Collection]. / Kraniofaziale Fehlbildungen in der Virchow-Sammlung der Charité.

On 27 June 1899 Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) inaugurated the Museum of Pathology at the Charité Hospital. The collection comprised 23,500 pathologic-anatomical specimens. Most of the collection was destroyed in World War II. About 2000 samples were saved. Meanwhile the stock has increased to about 9000 objects. The development, contents and structure of the famous Virchow Collection are described with special reference to craniofacial deformities.

[Craniofacial deformities in the Virchow Collection at the Charité Hosptial]. / Kraniofaziale Fehlbildungen in der Virchow-Sammlung der Charité

On 27 June 1899 Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) inaugurated the Museum of Pathology at the Charité Hospital. The collection comprised 23 500 pathologic-anatomical specimens. Most of the collection was destroyed in World War II. About 2000 samples were saved. Meanwhile the stock has increased to about 9000 objects. The development, contents and structure of the famous Virchow Collection are described with special reference to craniofacial deformities.

Tetraphocomelia and bilateral cleft lip in a historical case of Roberts syndrome [Virchow, 1898].

We discuss an unlabelled specimen of tetraphocomelia and bilaterally cleft lip from the former Virchow Museum of our Medical School. Identity of the subject with a case of what was later termed "Roberts syndrome" published by Rudolf Virchow in 1898 is demonstrated. Rediscovery of this important historical case is gratifying, since almost 95% of the specimens of Virchow's collection were lost during World War II. We have restudied Virchow's case. Recent CT scan images of the fetus are presented. We review data from the literature and present new clinical details. The fate of the original clinical data after passing through three reviews is documented briefly. We also reconstruct Virchow's view on phocomelia and its consequences for later research.

[History of the prosector's office at the Charité Hospital, Berlin. 5. Johann Heinrich Meckel von Hemsbach, prosector of the Charité Hospital from 1852 to 1856]. / Zur Geschichte der Prosektur der Charité Berlin. 5. Mitteilung: Johann Heinrich Meckel von Hemsbach, Prosektor der Charité von 1852 bis 1856.

A report is presented on the period of about 3 1/2 years when Johann Heinrich Meckel von Hemsbach (1822-1856) held the office of Prosector at Berlin's Charité Hospital. Meckel who was born in Berne on 8 June 1822 was an offspring of a famous family of German anatomists whose most important members are described. From 1841 on Meckel studied medicine in Halle where he also obtained a doctor's degree in 1845. His ensuing activities at the University of Halle were preferentially devoted to comparative anatomy and a perfection of his skills in preparing scientific illustrations. In March 1852, he applied for the post of Charité Prosector which had become vacant due to Benno Reinhardt's (1819-1852) early death. He did so together with Busch (1826-1881), Meyer (1818-1887), Remak (1815-1865) and von Frantzius (1821-1877) whose careers are described. Meckel was chosen by ministerial decision. His appointment had been conditional upon his acquiring the qualification and status of an (unsalaried) university lecturer within a defined period so that he was in a position to take care of teaching as part of the Prosector's duties. This has to be seen as an obvious upgrading of the office of Charité Prosector. When Meckel took office, he probably suffered already from lung disease, like his predecessor. As a consequence, he had to concentrate his activity on teaching and could give only little impulse to the practice of pathology at the Charité. He died on 30 January 1856, presumably from tuberculosis of the lung.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[History of prosector's department at Charité of Berlin. 4. Benno Hernst Heinrich Reinhardt, Prosector of Charité, 1849 to 1852]. / Zur Geschichte der Prosektur der Charité Berlin. 4. Mitteilung: Benno Ernst Heinrich Reinhardt, Prosektor der Charité von 1849 bis 1852.

This communication has been devoted to BENNO ERNST HEINRICH REINHARDT'S brief period of office (1849-1852) as Prosector of Berlin's Charité Hospital. REINHARDT who was born in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, studied medicine in Berlin and Halle. His predilection for microscopy dated back already to that period. Having returned to Berlin in 1844, he took his doctor's degree in that year. Also in 1844, he became assistant to the gynaecologist, CARL MAYER (1795-1858), and opened a medical practice of his own. In 1848, he joined a cholera hospital in Berlin. In that year, he qualified and obtained the (unsalaried) status of university lecturer. In 1849, he had a short-time assignment as a supplementary physician at the Berlin University Hospital in Ziegelstrasse before he succeeded RUDOLF VIRCHOW (1821-1902) as Prosector of the Charité Hospital on 1 October. REINHARDT'S second period of life in Berlin was characterized by a close friendship with RUDOLF VIRCHOW which lasted also over the years VIRCHOW spent in Würzburg, until REINHARDT'S early death. As a consequence of his short scientific life, he has left only a few printed publications which were more or less sketchy. Until our days, his name has been associated with "VIRCHOWS Archiv" which was founded jointly by him and VIRCHOW in 1847. REINHARDT had contracted tuberculosis in 1846. When he took office, his illness had already progressed so that his influence on the further development of the prosector's office had to remain a limited one. After a mere 2 1/2 years in office, he succumbed to his illness on 11 March 1852. After his death, RUDOLF LEUBUSCHER (1821-1861) collected his unpublished papers and those in preparation and published them still in that year, under the title "BENNO REINHARDT'S pathologisch-anatomische Untersuchungen".

[The history of the prosector's department of the Charité Berlin. 3. Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow, prosector of Charité, 1846 to 1849]. / Zur Geschichte der Prosektur der Charité Berlin. 3. Mitteilung: Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow, Prosektor der Charité von 1846 bis 1849.

Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (1821-1902) had been prosector at the Charité of Berlin, from 1846 to 1849. He had moved to Berlin in October 1839 for army surgeon training at the Pépinière, the Academy of Military Medicine. He had to choose that line of education, as it was free, for his parents were in no financial position to pay for ordinary university studies. On completion of theoretical classes, Easter 1843, he was delegated to Charité for an 18-months practical training programme. He worked in all compulsory clinical departments and, subsequently, took up service in the Prosector's Department then headed by Robert F. Froriep who guided and supported Virchow towards independent scientific activity. Virchow defended his doctoral thesis with good success in 1843. His application for the expected vacant office of Prosector was supported by Froriep before he left Berlin in 1846. The application was granted "ad interim", on May 11, 1846. His name became known very soon on account of his ambitious commitment. He also began to take a growing commitment to political change in Prussia in general, and change to the medical system in particular. He achieved discharge from military service in 1847, formally qualified for university lecturing, and was officially appointed as Prosector and lecturer. In the same year, 1847, he founded the "Archives" in cooperation with Benno H. E. Reinhardt. During an epidemic cholera outbreak in Berlin and an outbreak of petechial typhus in Upper Silesia, early 1848, he realised social root causes of disease and accused the Prussian government for negligence of its own citizens. He then joined the March struggles of 1848 out of his insight into the need for change of society. A weekly under the heading of "Die medicinische Reform" ("Reform in Medicine") was published under Virchow's editorship, from mid-1848 to mid-1849. Early 1849, his involvement on the premises of Charité in a leaflet campaign against planned mock elections in Prussia led to his suspension from office. Widespread protest by medical doctors and students, together with concessions made by Virchow and the Ministry in charge, resulted in his reinstallment. Having received offers for professoral chairs from the universities of Würzburg and Giessen, he was encouraged to bargain for acceptable conditions for continuation at the Berlin university. These were not granted, and he left for a lecturing post at the University of Würzburg.

[The history of the Pathologic Museum of the Berlin Charité Hospital. 4. The remarkable events concerning a twin monster from Eupen]. / Zur Geschichte des Pathologischen Museums der Charité Berlin. 4. Mitteilung: Die bemerkenswerten Ereignisse um eine Doppelmissgeburt aus Eupen.

A legal dispute broke out in Eupen near Aachen, 1873, and was to be protracted through 14 years. The case was about a twin monster that had died at or after birth. A physician in Eupen, at the same time public servant in the local government, was aware of Virchow's interest in collecting cases. He obtained the two interconnected dead bodies from the parents and promised the latter a sizeable amount of money, obviously assuming that Virchow had at his disposal funds for compensation, as had been the case with Rudolphi and Müller, some time before. The twin monster was sent to Berlin, but no money showed up. The parents sought legal counsel with their local police commissioner who also held the post of local attorney. The attorney opened an investigation, and the district commissioner got involved. The physician was officially reproved by the Aachen government for having trespassed his authority in obtaining the twin monster. Two questions were now cropping up in Eupen: Did Virchow pay money to the local physician? If so, why did the latter fail to pass it on to the parents? This might be a case for civil action. The police commissioner promised the parents to see Virchow in Berlin and to ask him for clarification. The father, when interrogated, insisted that one of the children had definitely lived for a short time after birth. This would entail a penal case on the physician and a charge of law-breaking. But this could be averted. The police commissioner managed to go to Berlin not before 1887. Hoping to have a legal claim to embezzled money even after 14 years, he intended to call on Virchow for questioning. Yet, he missed him and left behind a letter with a request for information on those past developments.

[Data on the history of the Pathology Department of the Berlin Charité Hospital. 2. Robert Friedrich Froriep, prosector at Charité, 1833-1846]. / Zur Geschichte der Prosektur der Charité Berlin. 2. Mitteilung. Robert Friedrich Froriep, Prosektor der Charité von 1833 bis 1846.

An account is given in this publication of the activities of Robert Friedrich Froriep (1804-1861), Prosector at Charité Berlin. He headed the Prosector's Department from 1833 through 1846. Froriep had come to Berlin in 1831 with intentions to do research, primarily on cholera with which the city had been afflicted in those years. When the position of a "Provisional Prosector" of Charité became vacant, after withdrawal of Philipp Phoebus, autumn 1832, the officials of the Hospital Affairs Curatory decided to continue the provisional arrangement, and five candidates applied for the office. Froriep was accepted primarily for two reasons: He had just completed service as an extraordinary professor at the Berlin Faculty of Medicine, and he was capable of producing evidence to the double-track education desired for the job, anatomy and scientific drawing. The Prosector's office was a low-salary side job. Therefore, to ensure his own livelihood, he went into two additional occupations, teaching of anatomic drawing at the Academy of Fine Arts and running of a private clinic. Froriep did extremely well in firmly establishing the Prosector's Department by enhancement of its scope and enlargement of its collection of pathologic-anatomic specimens. He failed, on the other hand, in his attempts to establish pathological anatomy as a subject in its own right at the Berlin Faculty of Medicine. That failure together with insecurity regarding the Prosector's office and position in the hierarchic system of Charité, compounded by protracted disputes between him and Johannes Müller on the Prosector's collection of specimens were causes for Froriep's aggravating frustration towards the late thirties. He also failed in trying to stabilize his scientific and financial positions by accepting directorship of a surgical department. The totality of problems in Berlin and illness of his father in Weimar prompted him to move to Weimar, in spring 1846, to take over as a manager of the Frorieps' family enterprise "Landes-Industrie-Comptoir", after the King of Prussia had bestowed upon him the title of a Privy Councillor of Medicine.

[The history of the Autopsy Department of the Berlin Charité hospital. 1. Founding of the Autopsy Department and Philipp Phoebus as the first prosector]. / Zur Geschichte der Prosektur der Charité Berlin. 1. Gründung der Prosektur und Philipp Phoebus als erster Prosektor.

The opening of the Prosector's Department at the Charité of Berlin and appointment of its first Prosector are reported in this paper. The scientific need for getting clinical postmortem investigations performed by full-fledged anatomists or for having them at least anatomically supervised and pressures resulting from Europe's first cholera outbreak, approaching Berlin about 1830, had been the principal motivations behind the initiative. On May 8, 1831, Dr. Philipp Phoebus was appointed the first Prosector of the Charité of Berlin. The position had been offered as a part-time job. Most aspects relating to the post had not been clearly defined by that date, for example, the rights and duties of a Prosector, his integration with the general pattern of Charité services, and his subordination to the local hospital committee. Phoebus made an unsuccessful attempt to define and thus secure the Prosector's position by means of a self-drafted policy paper. Misunderstandings on end and strained relations with the clinicians on the spot prompted him to quit service after 16 months. An account is given of his short but successful time at Charité, with reference being also made of the specific reason for his resignation. An outline is subsequently presented of Phoebus' further life and work, including scientific careers in Berlin, Stolberg/Harz, and at Giessen University where he held a professorship in pharmacology.

[History of the Pathologic Museum of the Berlin Charité. 3. On the microcephalic brothers Michael and Friedrich Sohn of Kiwitsblott]. / Zur Geschichte des Pathologischen Museums der Charité Berlin. 3. Mitteilung: Uber die mikrocephalen Brüder Michael und Friedrich Sohn aus Kiwitsblott.

The historical events relating to 2 microencephalic brothers born in Prussia around 1815 and 1822 are presented. After their deaths in 1835 and 1842 respectively they were made accessible to the anatomical museum of the Berlin University. Later the skulls, casts and detailed contemporary descriptions of their development and behaviour as well as original correspondence relating to obtaining the specimens came to the Pathologic Museum of the Charité where they can be found today (recently rediscovered).

[On the history of the Pathology Museum at the Charité in Berlin]. / Zur Geschichte des Pathologischen Museums der Charité Berlin.

A museum was founded by Rudolf Virchow at the Institute for Pathology of the Charité. Although initially based on the pathologic specimens collected by his predecessors, Virchow's tremendous efforts lead a rapid increase in the number of specimens and these numbered more than 23,000 at the time of his death. In accord with Virchow's wishes a special building was constructed to house the collection and to make it accessible to the public. It was opened on June 27, 1899. Most of the specimens were destroyed as a result of the war during 1939-1945. About 500 specimens from Virchow's famous collection have survived and are exhibited at present at the Charité's Institute of Pathology.

[The history of the Charité Pathology Museum, Berlin. 2. The collection of deformed specimens ("monsters")]. / Zur Geschichte des Pathologischen Museums der Charité Berlin. 2. Mitteilung: Die Sammlung von Missbildungspräparaten ("Monstra").

The collection of human and animal anomalies which was legally required in Prussia in the 18th and 19th centuries is described. A governmental order given to physicians in 1776, initiated the collection. The regulations were further elaborated later. The actual working of the program is illustrated using examples and the route by which such preparations reached the Pathologic Museum, opened in 1899 in the Charité, is described.

[From the Rudolf Virchow collection of pathologic anatomic specimens at the Charité: 6 urinary bladder calculi from the year 1729]. / Aus der Rudolf-Virchow-Sammlung pathologisch-anatomischer Präparate an der Charité: 6 Harnblasensteine aus dem Jahre 1729.

The Virchow-Collection contains 6 urinary calculi. They were found at a post-mortem examination performed by the Berlin physician Lesser in 1729 on a 34-year old man. Lesser's original description has recently been rediscovered and is published in the article.