Herxheimer, Karl

Physician

Born: 26.06.1861 in Wiesbaden

died: 06.12.1942 in Theresienstadt concentration camp

Herxheimer, son of the merchant Herz (Hermann) Herxheimer, studied medicine in Freiburg, Würzburg and Strasbourg, went to the pathological institute in Frankfurt am Main and the dermatological clinic in Breslau after completing his doctorate and returned to Frankfurt, where he settled as a specialist for skin diseases. His brother Salomon Herxheimer (1842-1899) was already practicing here.

In 1894 Herxheimer became director of the municipal dermatology clinic, and from 1899, following the accidental death of his brother, also headed the clinic founded by the latter. In 1914 he took over the chair of dermatology at the new Frankfurt University, of which he was a co-founder.

Appointed Royal Prussian Privy Medical Councillor in 1914, Herxheimer was considered one of the leading dermatologists of his time and an outstanding therapist who had developed numerous new healing methods.

He was made emeritus professor in 1930, but three years later his emeritus status was revoked and he was placed under house arrest in 1941. His escape to Switzerland, for which all preparations had been made by some helpers in the spring of 1942, came to nothing; on September 1, 1942, Herxheimer and his partner were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he was murdered.

The so-called Herxheimer reaction is named after him. The highest award in German dermatology, the Karl Herxheimer Medal, which is awarded for outstanding achievements in the field of dermato-venereology, is named after Herxheimer.

Notter, Bettina: Life and work of the dermatologists Karl Herxheimer (1861-1942) and Salomon Herxheimer (1841-1899), dissertation. Frankfurt 1994.

Zoske, Horst: Karl Herxheimer. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie vol. 8 [pp. 727 f.].