Jean-Martin Charcot in German neurology

Abstract

Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), well known as the founder of modern neurology, was the most celebrated neurologist in the nineteenth century. His international success stemmed not only from mastery descriptions of various neurological disorders but also from his many contacts with scientists all over the world. The aim of this article is to review Charcot's ambivalent relationship to German neuropsychiatry of the time and to examine the German reception of his personality and work. Wilhelm Erb, Ludwig Hirt, Ernst von Leyden, Max Nonne, Adolph Strümpell, and other German physicians cultivated -to varying degrees - professional contacts with Charcot and, based on the fascination of his personality and significance of his work, were long and intensively influenced by the Salpêtrière school. The extent of their admiration became apparent in 1882 by the award of an honorary doctorate to Charcot by the University of Würzburg. Along with increasingly severe criticism of Charcot's research on hysteria and hypnosis, most German neuropsychiatrists became estranged, without neglecting his importance to the development of neurology in Germany.