BARON VONT LANGENBECK, 
SURGEON-GENERAL OF THE GERMAN ARMY, PROFESSOR OF 
SURGERY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN. 
By Walter B. Platt, M. D. 
[Read befor'e the Johns Hopkins Hospital Historical Club, April 9,1894.] 
[ F rom The Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, No. 40, May, 1894.] [From The Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, No. 40, May, 1894.] 
BARON VON LANGENBECK, 
SURGEON-GENERAL OF THE GERMAN ARMY, PROFESSOR OF 
SURGERY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN. 
Walter B. Platt, M. D. 
[Read before the Johns Hopkins Hospital Historical Club, April 9,1894.] 
Among the surgeons of the present century who by noble 
thoughts and acts inspire their pupils with unbounded 
admiration, there is none who has received and deserved more 
than Bernhard von Langenbeck, both on account of his great 
professional achievements as well as by reason of the rare per- 
sonal qualities, which were those of a leader of men. The 
one made him far and away the first surgeon of his day in 
Europe; the other, a man most beloved by his pupils, patients 
and colleagues. 
To how few are these qualities granted! United with 
stability of purpose, they must produce a certain result. This 
is seen throughout his intensely active and useful life. It 
was my rare good fortune to know him, to see and hear him 
often, to meet him frequently at his own house. 
The impress of his character will remain indelible. In 
looking over the enthusiastic and almost tearful notices 
written in different parts of Europe by his many pupils 
soon after his death, the same impression seemed to have been 
made upon all. There was the greatest admiration of the 
man as well as of the brilliant surgeon. 
On the shores of theWeser just as it empties into the North 
Sea, Langenbeck was born November 8, 1810, in the small 
village of Padingbuttel. His father, George Langenbeck, was 
the local clergyman and chaplain. His mother’s maiden name 
was Johanna Sussman. The father is said to have been a 
most excellent pastor, and teacher as well; among his pupils 
was Count Borries. His half-brother, that is to say the half- 
uncle of young Langenbeck, was the well known Professor of 2 
Surgery at Gottingen, who was among the last of those who 
united the branches of ophthalmology and surgery. 
Young Langenbeck early showed a great fondness forknow- 
ing how various animals “ looked inside,” and dissected these 
upon all occasions. He studied under the direction of his 
father, who designed him for the ministry, his studies being 
in part such as would prepare him for theology. What passed 
between father and son when the latter decided upon a different 
course is unknown. The fact in evidence remains that he 
entered the University of Gottingen, October 25, 1830, taking 
the medical course and remaining until 1834, when he took for 
his graduating thesis a dissertation upon “ The Structure of 
the Retina.” In this we may see the guiding hand of the 
uncle. That it was not due to this alone is probable, in view 
of the fact that a later addition was made to the thesis, 
concerning “ Path. Anat. Alterations of the Retina.” Micro- 
scopical work thus early claimed his interest, and he was 
speedily made a Docent in physiology and microscopy. While 
continuing in this branch, he soon began teaching operative 
surgery on the cadaver, giving private instruction with great 
success. 
Soon after taking his degree, it is related that on returning 
for a visit to his father’s house he was so besieged by the 
patients who came to seek his skill that he had to get out of a 
window by means of a ladder in order to make his escape. At 
Gottingen his courses in operative surgery attracted so much 
attention that he thought it best to go away, out of considera- 
tion to the feelings of his uncle, the regular Professor of 
Surgery. He was speedily called to the chair of surgery at 
the University at Kiel. Not long after, one of the Holstein 
wars broke out and he entered eagerly upon the career of 
army surgeon. 
His success upon the field was so brilliant that before the 
war was fairly over he was called to Berlin to fill the chair 
of surgery, left vacant by Dieffenbach, who fell dead in his 
clinic when about to operate. “Youth” and “book learning” 
were urged against his appointment, which was delayed for a 
time. When he finally came in 1848 he found a crowded audi- 
torium and enthusiastic applause awaiting him on his first 
appearance. 3 
Then came other Holstein wars, in all of which Langenbeck 
took part, teaching as well as operating throughout his service, 
resembling in this respect Larrey, for whom he had great 
admiration. Before coming to Berlin Langenbeck had every 
advantage of foreign study, visiting Paris and London. In 
the latter city he knew Sir Benjamin Brodie, Lawrence, and 
Henry Green. He was especially attracted to Sir Astley 
Cooper, who, retired from active work, was then living at his 
country seat. Having no children, he made sons of his three 
nephews, the well-known surgeons Bransby Cooper, Aston 
Key, and John Tyrrel. Langenbeck was accustomed to meet 
them at their uncle’s every Sunday, and passed delightful hours 
in their society. The pleasures and mutual advantage of 
social intercourse among professional men as shown at the 
meetings of the London Medico-Chirurgical Society impressed 
him strongly, and during his entire after-life he was fond of 
gathering his pupils about him. London was not revisited for 
forty-four years. During his thirty-four years in Berlin he 
founded the German Surgical Society, and for the last twelve 
years of his residence in that city was president of the Berlin 
Medical Society. When president of the German Surgical 
Congress he paid constant attention to every word of each 
speaker, although the long sittings must have been wearisome 
to him in his old age. 
If Dieffenbach was the first great German surgeon, Langen- 
beck was the founder of German surgery as we know it to-day, 
where the constant striving is to build upon a foundation of 
biology and experimental pathology, where each result is 
subjected to the closest scientific scrutiny and criticism. He 
was a firm believer in carefully conducted experiments upon 
animals to verify or disprove the value of new surgical pro- 
cedures. 
He was an enthusiastic army surgeon, participating in all 
the Holstein wars, in the war with Austria in ’66, and in the 
Franco-Prussian war of ’70. He took the most advanced 
ground in military surgery regarding the ambulance system, 
work on the field, and the absolute neutrality of hospitals. 
The Red Cross movement excited his keen interest, and he 
attended the Geneva Conference, where decided advances were 
made. Any violation of the Red Cross symbol to avoid capture 4 
excited his utmost indignation. He heartily endorsed the 
words of the German Emperor, who nobly said, “A wounded 
enemy is no more an enemy, but a comrade needing our help.” 
He endeavored to inspire his young army surgeons with the 
highest ideas of duty, saying, “ While we may not expect a 
military surgeon to know everything, yet there are things he 
must know to a degree approaching perfection.” 
Nor did he fail to illustrate his stern ideas of duty, on the 
bloody field of Gravelotte, when, being told that his best 
beloved son had been fatally wounded, replied, “ I cannot 
leave, my duty keeps me here.” He did not see him until the 
day following. An English surgeon who accompanied the 
German army during the campaign of ’70 was strongly 
impressed with the affection and reverence the young surgeons 
showed for Langenbeck. In this campaign he performed a 
large number of those subperiosteal resections with which his 
name will always be associated. He notes the greatly decreased 
mortality where a resection can be substituted for an ampu- 
tation. Wherever there was much to be done he was to be 
found, although he never interfered with his subordinates nor 
deprived them of operations which were his for the taking. 
Langenbeck was a man who wrote but little when we 
consider the number of years he was at work. Thought and 
a conservative originality are on every page that came from 
his pen. His articles and pamphlets number but 47; his 
operations must reach into many thouands. He founded the 
Archiv fur Chirurgie, and devised new methods of operating 
on hare-lip. His uranoplastiJc, an operation for the closure of 
cleft palate in which the mucous membrane with the peri- 
osteum is loosened from the bone, is well known. His joint 
resections are the best we have to-day. He was one of the 
earliest to advocate the immediate fixation of fractures by 
means of immovable dressings. Langenbeck reminds us that 
it was Heine who in 1830-40 did the first subperiosteal resec- 
tions, upon dogs. The results of his experiments are still to 
be seen in the Museum of the University of Wurzburg. 
We must not forget to mention that while at Kiel Langen- 
beck was called to the chair of surgery at Munich. The 
appointment failed of royal confirmation, and a favorite was 
installed in the place. 5 
In his early days he was one of the first to assert that glan- 
ders was caused by a micro-organism. The real organism he 
mistook. The microscopes and the technique of that day did 
not admit of following up the ultimate cause. 
Langenbeck was the great teacher of surgery on the Conti- 
nent. Pupils from distant parts of Europe and America 
flocked to see and hear him. He was especially devoted to 
helping young men by every means in his power to acquire 
what they came for. Many of his pupils are now the most 
eminent surgeons of Germany; among these may be men- 
tioned Billroth, Trendelenburg, Hitter, Kronlein and Bose. 
Billroth, Langenbeck’s assistant for seven years, loved him as 
a father. He says, “ His name is written in golden letters not 
only in the Book of History but in the Book of Love of all 
his pupils and friends,” and in speaking of his immediate 
popularity on assuming the chair of Surgery at Berlin, said, 
“ In a short time he had conquered the hearts of pupils, 
colleagues and patients.” “ His charm of personality capti- 
vated all. He was the inspired leader of youth, their incarnate 
ideal of a clinical teacher.” “ His place among us, or rather 
over us German surgeons, was at the same time by the grace 
of God and by our choice.” 
The occasion of his 70th birthday in November, 1880, might 
be called'a love-feast. Sixteen full professors of surgery who 
had been either his own assistants or those of his devoted 
followers, gathered about him, the students of the University 
gave him a torch-light procession, and the citizens in general 
caught the enthusiasm. His was the wonderful gift of ming- 
ling freely with his subordinates without the slightest loss of 
their respect or admiration. Absolutely cold-blooded in oper- 
ating, he was the kindest and most warm-hearted of men. To 
quote the words of another, “ Endued with a sympathetic voice, 
he was at the same time fluent of speech and modest of 
demeanor, while he combined a charm and impressiveness of 
manner with an intimate knowledge of detail.” 
Small in stature and slight in figure, with an exquisitely 
refined face and a noble look in his eye, he was an aristocrat 
by nature and in feeling. 
His life was an active one. He rose at five in the morning 
and took a horseback ride when the weather permitted inime- 6 
ately after coffee. At six he gave a course in operative surgery 
on the cadaver to graduates in medicine or last-year students. 
At eight he saw his office patients. From ten to two he 
attended to his private practice and made his hospital visit. 
At two or soon after he operated daily in his clinic upon the 
most difficult cases. Finishing at 4.30 p. m., he spent the 
remainder of the day with his friends, his family, or in 
writing. 
He was an excellent teacher, clear in thought and expression, 
and careful in arrangement of his subject-matter. Langenbeck 
was a rapid and bold operator. He never failed to neatly cover 
in the large defects left after removing extensive malignant 
growths from the face, bringing up and turning in flaps of 
skin from apparently impossible places, and sending out the 
patient entirely presentable. 
In operating he was fond of using small knives, which were 
sharpened in the operating room by the assistants immediately 
before an operation. When a knife had served him well in 
some important operation he was accustomed to have a small 
notch cut in the handle for future reference. 
After an operation he invariably applied the dressing with 
his own hands. It was impossible not to give him your whole 
attention during a clinic or lecture. His earnest voice and 
fiery manner fascinated the beholder as if under the spell of a 
magician. 
At the close of the Franco-Prussian war he was the recipi- 
ent of honors and decorations from nearly every court of 
Europe, and the thanks of the Emperor, with whom he stood 
on the double footing of friend and physician. 
Soon after his 70th birthday, with fame in no way dimin- 
ished, he resigned his chair in the University on account of a 
cataract which interfered with his work. Retiring to his 
beautiful villa situated on the hills overlooking the city of 
Wiesbaden, he passed the remainder of his days, dying Sep- 
tember 29, 1887, of apoplexy, at the age of 77, leaving behind 
him a name which men delight to honor. 
[I am under obligations to addresses by Billroth and Von 
Bergmann, as well as to an article in the London Lancet, for 
such facts as were not derived from my own knowledge of Von 
Langenbeck and his environment.—W. B. P.]