Heinrich Köbner

Biography

• Born 2 December 1838 Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland)
• 1859 – Medical doctorate, University of Breslau (University of Wrocław from 1945)
• 1860 – Worked in Vienna with Ferdinand Hebra (1816-1880)
• 1861 – Founded ‘Dr Köbnerschen Instituts für Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten‘ a dermatology clinic where he treated his patients for free.
• 1869 – Habilitated (venia docendi), University of Breslau
• 1872 – First president of the Berlin Dermatological Society
• 1876 – Director, policlinic for syphilis and diseases of the skin, University of Breslau
• 1893 – Member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists, Leopoldina
• Died 3 September 1904 Charlottenberg

Medical Eponyms

• Köbner (Koebner) phenomenon (Presented 1872, published 1876)
• Köbner syndrome: Epidermolysis bullosa simplex, Koebner type (EBS-K) – Now termed ‘Generalized epidermolysis bullosa simplex‘ or ‘EBS-gen intermed‘. The term ‘epidermolysis bullosa‘ was first introduced by Köbner in 1886 to describe an hereditary, non-scarring, blistering skin disease. [1886;12:21-2]

Major Publications

• Köbner H. Klinische und experimentelle Mittheilungen aus der Dermatologie und Syphilidologie. 1864
• Köbner H. Zur aetiologie der psoriasis. Vierteljahrsschrift für Dermatologie und Syphilis 1876;8:559-561 [Köbner phenomenon]
• Köbner H. Hereditary Anlage zur Blasenbildung (Epidermolysis bullosa hereditaria). Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift. 1886;12:21-2 [Epidermolysis bullosa]
• Köbner H. Zur Kenntniss der allgemeinen Sarcomatose und der Hautsarcome im Besonderen.  Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis. 1869;1(3):369-381. [Kaposi sarcoma]

Controversies

Köbner or  Koebner: Original German spelling (Köbner) has mainly been replaced with Koebner in the medical literature.  When German umlauts ä, ö and ü are  converted to non-umlaut derivatives, they are usually written ae, oe, and ue respectively. Alphabetized variations on the same name such as (Müller, Mueller or Köbner, Koebner) are grouped together [unlike Swedish and Finnish where the umlauted vowels come at the end of the alphabet (…X,Y,Z,Å,Ä,Ö)]

References

• Obituary: Professor Heinrich Köbner. Br Med J 1904;2:783
• Portrait: Koebner Heinrich. Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
• Kuner N1, Hartschuh W, Khan-Durani B. [Heinrich Köbner and the “isomorphic phenomenon”. History and review of the literature] Hautarzt. 2003 Mar;54(3):274-8. [PMID 12634998]