Hermann Weber
Sir Hermann David Weber (1823-1918) was a German physician who practised in England
Hermann Weber is remembered for pioneering the open-air treatment of tuberculosis, advancing climatotherapy, and contributing extensively to medical literature on pulmonary disease and balneotherapy. The eponym Weber’s syndrome also bears his name.
Weber studied medicine at Marburg and Bonn, graduating MD in 1848. In the early 1850s he moved to London, initially serving as house physician at the German Hospital in Dalston. After qualifying LRCP in 1855 and becoming FRCP in 1859, he built a highly successful private practice, treating five British Prime Ministers and numerous leading medical colleagues.
A tireless advocate of healthy living and exercise, Weber promoted Alpine resorts and sea voyages for the treatment of tuberculosis, writing widely on these subjects. With his son, Frederick Parkes Weber (1863–1962), he co-authored The Mineral Waters and Health Resorts of Europe (1896), a standard reference for decades.
Weber was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1899 in recognition of his contributions to medicine. An accomplished mountaineer, he continued climbing into his seventies and remained active into old age. Following retirement from practice at age 80, he devoted himself to numismatics, assembling an internationally respected collection of ancient Greek coins and receiving the medal of the Royal Numismatic Society in 1905.
Best known for his description of Weber’s paralysis (Weber syndrome) in 1863
Biography
- 1823 (December 30) – Born in Holzkirchen, Unterfranken, Germany.
- 1838 – Attended Gymnasium in Fulda.
- 1844 – Commenced medical studies at Marburg University.
- 1848 – Graduated MD, University of Bonn; began practice in Germany.
- 1854 – Moved to London as house physician, German Hospital, Dalston; married an Englishwoman.
- 1855 – Qualified LRCP, London.
- 1859 – Elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP).
- 1863 – Father to Frederick Parkes Weber (1863-1962) who became an even more famous physician
- 1879–1881 – Served as Censor at the Royal College of Physicians.
- 1885 – Delivered Croonian Lectures on the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.
- 1890 – Retired as hospital physician; remained consulting physician to multiple institutions.
- 1896 – Co-authored The Mineral Waters and Health Resorts of Europe with his son; donated £3,000 to establish the Weber-Parkes Prize for an essay on tuberculosis.
- 1899 – Knighted by Queen Victoria for services to medicine.
- 1905 – Awarded medal of the Royal Numismatic Society for contributions to numismatics.
- 1918 (November 11) – Died in London.
Medical Eponyms
Weber’s syndrome (Weber’s paralysis) 1863
Midbrain stroke syndrome causing ipsilateral oculomotor nerve palsy and contralateral hemiparesis.
Partial or complete oculomotor paralysis and contralateral hemiplegia due to lesions of the nucleus of the third cranial nerve and its ventral fibres crossing the midbrain and the pyramidal tract. Most commonly associated with haemorrhage or thrombosis, and rarely with a pituitary neoplasm which extends dorsally
1856 – Adolphe Gubler (1821-1897)
1863 – Weber: Infarction or a tumour of the brainstem produces paralysis of the third cranial nerve on the same side and hemiparesis on the opposite side.
1891 – As was the way with eponymous terms, the eponym rarely attributed their own name to the condition, instead couching their findings as a neologism or complex description. Later, eminent physicians with similar case used the name of the eponym to create the eponymous term. In this case it was the very eminent Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893)
Original
English
Je tiens, avant de passer à l’examen et à la discussion de ce cas, à vous exposer quelques considérations concernant ce que, pour plus de brièveté, j’appelerai, si vous voulez bien, le syndrome de Weber. Weber est un médecin allemand résidant en Angleterre et auquel nous sommes redevables d’une Tort intéressante étude sur la pathologie du pédoncule cérébral. Si je vous propose cette dénomination c’est parce que l’observation qui sert de fondement au travail de cet auteur est absolument typique. C’est en effet pour la première fois qu’on publie un cas, à localisation unique et très nette, montrant qu’une lésion de la partie inférieure et interne du pédoncule cérébral produit un syndrome caractérisé par une paralysie alterne de l’oculo-moteur commun d’un côté et des extrémités du côté opposé.
…Gubler avait déjà, il est vrai, vu et noté cette sorte de paralysie alterne, mais malheureusement, son cas était complexe. Il y avait en effet des lésions un peu dans toutes les parties de l’encéphale : non seulement le pédoncule mais encore la couche optique, le lobe temporal et le lobe occipital étaient touchés, de telle manière que, si en réalité l’observation de Gubler est la première en date, elle est je le répète, beaucoup trop complexe pour servir de type aux paralysies pédonculo-protubérantielles.
Before examining and discussing this case, I would like to propose the name Weber’s syndrome. Weber is a German physician residing in England to whom we are indebted for a very interesting study on the pathology of the cerebral peduncle. I propose this term because the observation that serves as the basis for this author’s work is absolutely typical. This is the first time that a case has been published, with a single and very clear location, showing that a lesion of the lower and internal part of the cerebral peduncle produces a syndrome characterised by paralysis of the common oculomotor nerve on one side and of the extremities on the opposite side.
…Gubler had already noted this type of alternating paralysis, but unfortunately, his case was complex. There were lesions in almost all parts of the brain: not only the peduncle but also the optic layer, the temporal lobe and the occipital lobe. Although Gubler’s observation was the first , it is much too complex to serve as a typical example.
1900 – Joseph Grasset (1849-1918), Professeur de Clinique médicale à l’Université de Montpellier, first used the term in a presentation to la Société de Neurologie de Paris, on July, 5 1900.
Major Publications
- Weber HD. A contribution to the pathology of the crura cerebri. Medico-Chirurgical Transactions 1863; 46: 121-139. [Weber syndrome]
- The Mineral Waters and Health Resorts of Europe, with F. Parkes Weber, 1896
- Weber HD. On means for the prolongation of life. 1906
References
Eponymous terms
- Gubler A-M. De l’hémiplégie alterne envisagée comme signe de lésion de la protubérance annulaire et comme preuve de la décussation des nerfs faciaux. Gazette hebdomadaire de médecine et de chirurgie. 1856; 3: 749-754, 789-792, 811-816. [Millard-Gubler syndrome]
- Charcot. Sur un cas d’hystérie simulatrice du syndrome de Weber. 1891; 21(63): 321-345
- Grasset J. Un type spécial de paralysie alterne motrice (type foville): paralysie des membres d’un coté, du facial total et de l’hemi-oculomoteur rotateur des yeux de l’autre. Revue neurologique, Paris, 1900; 8: 586-592.
Eponym
the person behind the name
