Current dissertations

Institute of History, Ethics and Philosophy of Medicine

Doctoral candidate

Nicole Lengwenus

Working title of the dissertation

Pediatric articles on diphtheria and tuberculosis in the "Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift" and the "Münchner Medizinische Wochenschrift" during the Weimar Republic and National Socialism

Abstract

Pediatrics is a relatively young discipline that only developed into an independent scientific discipline in Germany in the second half of the 19th century. The development of vaccinations against tuberculosis and diphtheria led to a considerable upswing in this discipline. However, it was precisely these vaccinations that gave rise to discussions within the medical profession. This is because considerable resistance had to be overcome, not only among the population but also among scientists. This study uses pediatric articles in medical journals on the diseases diphtheria and tuberculosis to examine how physicians and scientists exchanged views and conducted public communications, particularly in the field of vaccinations. It also examines whether there are statements that reveal the political attitudes of physicians. This is because the reservations of those opposed to vaccination were also based on racial hygiene thinking, among other things.

Medical journals, such as the medical journals "Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift" (DMW) and "Münchner Medizinische Wochenschrift" (MMW), not only serve the purpose of medical communications within a specialist field, but also disseminate medical knowledge on an interdisciplinary basis. Accordingly, the content is adapted to the reading needs of an interdisciplinary medical specialist audience and communicated beyond the smaller circle of those directly involved in the production of knowledge, the "thinking collective" (Ludwik Fleck) in the narrower sense, and thus medical knowledge can be discussed and received by a wider circle of specialists. The two weekly journals DMW and MMW are particularly suitable as objects of study in this respect, as they cover the entire spectrum of medicine. The period under investigation covers the Weimar Republic and National Socialism, as a dynamic development can be recognized within the reporting during the period under investigation, from research into therapy to the development of vaccination and the discussion about mass vaccination.

In 1913, Emil von Behring developed the diphtheria vaccine Toxin-Antitoxin for active immunization and vaccination against diphtheria. The first real success with immunization against tuberculosis was achieved in 1906 by Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin with their BCG vaccine. There were numerous articles on both diphtheria and tuberculosis in the DMW and MMW during the period under review, probably due to the fact that although treatment and vaccination were already available, they did not guarantee 100% success. For this reason, there was an interdisciplinary interest in improving the chances of a cure and prophylaxis, as well as a need for specialist public communications on research and therapy trials with regard to the diseases diphtheria and tuberculosis.

With the beginning of National Socialism, pediatric care in Germany changed fundamentally. More than half of the pediatricians were of Jewish descent. Many of them had been involved in prevention, especially of tuberculosis and diphtheria. From 1933, many of them lost their jobs in research and teaching and later their license to practice medicine, and many emigrated. The field of actors, the "thought collective", changed considerably from 1933 onwards, as did the wider professional communication network. The study therefore examines whether changes can also be identified in the reporting of the two diseases in medical journals.

Medical experiments on children to research the course of disease, therapies and vaccination prophylaxis took place not only under National Socialism, but also during the Weimar Republic. Against this backdrop, it is important to ask about the public debate on human experimentation, especially on children, on research ethics, on the medical profession's view of children as patients and on the treatment of sick children during the period under investigation.