Franz Ernst (1887–1947) – ein Zahnarzt als „genialer Meister“ und „Pionier“ der zeitgenössischen MKG-Chirurgie

Abstract

Franz Ernst was the youngest and last of the doyens of German maxillofacial surgery who were trained purely as dentists. After his early death, he was honored as an “ingenious master” and “pioneer”, and became the eponym of several technical and surgical innovations. But how did Ernst’s focus in contemporary maxillofacial surgery come about in the first place, to what extent was he able to establish himself professionally among the double-trained specialist surgeons, and how did he position himself politically in the Third Reich? These questions are the focus of the current article. The source material used for this purpose includes various files from the Federal Archives in Berlin, printed primary publications, and other publications relating to Franz Ernst and maxillofacial surgery in Berlin. The analysis shows that Ernst can be classified as a virtuoso and technically innovative surgeon, who, among other things, improved and catalyzed the therapy of cleft palate and enjoyed broad professional and personal recognition. Nevertheless, the lack of a double degree, similar to the discussed case of Hugo Ganzer (1879–1960), prevented a full-time professorship for maxillofacial surgery at a German university—and thus also the establishment of an academic school that could have increased his fame. Moreover, it can be shown that Ernst was one of the specialists in the Third Reich who served the Nazi regime through memberships in Nazi organizations. However, Ernst’s willingness to adapt to politics had limits: he clearly spoke out against forced sterilization of patients with cleft palates and denied speculations about the heritability of cleft formations.