Professor Ludwig Rehn and Assistants
Professor Ludwig Rehn And Assistants
"Operating Room for Demonstrations upon the Cadaver"
Back to Austrian and German Tour of Hospitals and Clinics

Professor Ludwig Rehn And Assistants

Digital download: £3.00

Image Details

Date 1912
Location Frankfurt
Description Ludwig Rehn (1849-1930) a German surgeon is best remembered for carrying out the first worldwide successful cardiac operation in 1896. This was performed on a stab wound to the heart of a 22 year old gardener. Prior to this landmark operation, Rhen was already well known for his work on surgery of the thyroid (he carried out the first thyroidectomy in 1880) and appendix. He is also credited for clarifying the causes of cancer in workers in the local aniline factories.

Although beginning his career as a general practitioner, Rhen opened a small private surgical clinic in Frankfurt, before taking up an appointment as Surgical Director at the newly founded Frankfurt University, where he later became Professor of Surgery.

During World War I he served as a surgeon general.
Format Photograph
Original Index Number 194