Wilhelm Erb (1840-1921), an influential German founder of neurology in the nineteenth century

Abstract

As an internist, Wilhelm Erb (1840-1921) developed neurology (he also used the term "neuropathology" synonymously) in the tradition of his teacher, Nikolaus Friedreich, in Heidelberg. He left behind a huge corpus of semiological and nosological elements that now constitute our current knowledge of neurology, much more than just the eponyms associated with his name. In 1891, he founded the journal Zeitschrift für Nervenheilkunde [Journal of Neurology] together with internist-neurologist colleagues, thus creating the counterpart to the Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten [Archive for Psychiatry and Neurology], which was founded by Berlin neuropsychiatrists Wilhelm Griesinger and Carl Westphal. Despite his reservations about the Gesellschaft Deutscher Nervenärzte [Society of German Nerve Doctors], he was elected its first president in 1907. Erb was also one of the most important representatives of electrodiagnosis and therapy in Europe. He had many disciples who were part of the Heidelberg School of Neurology. His anti-Semitism-a widespread Zeitgeist phenomenon-was documented in several letters to his friend, neurologist Adolf von Strümpell, in which he expressed his contempt for the growing role of Jewish neurologists. Erb's retirement years were marked by illnesses, depression, and grief over the death of three of his sons.

Keywords: Antisemitism; Gesellschaft Deutscher Nervenärzte [Society of German Nerve Doctors]; Hermann Oppenheim; Wilhelm Erb; Zeitschrift für Nervenheilkunde [Journal of Neurology]; electrophysiology of nerve and muscle pathology; tabes dorsalis.