Carl Strehl (July 12, 1886 – August 18, 1971) was a German

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

born in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

who was influential in the teaching of the blind.

History

In December 1907, Strehl lost his eyesight while working in a chemical factory in New York. Later, after returning to Europe, he commenced with studies in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. In 1915, he was hired by

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the worl ...

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

Alfred Bielschowsky Alfred Bielschowsky (December 11, 1871 – April 5, 1940) was a German ophthalmologist. His specialty was physiology and pathology of the eye, particularly in regards to research of eye movement, space perception and diagnosis of oculomotor anomal ...

(1871-1940) to assist with

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

soldiers who had been blinded by shell fragments and poison gas. In March 1916 Strehl and Bielschowsky established the ''Verein blinder Akademiker Deutschlands'' (German Society of Blind Academicians), an association to provide

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

assistance for the blind. Shortly afterwards he founded the (German Blind Study Institute; aka ''Carl Strehl-Schule'') for the visually impaired, which today is a nationally recognized institution in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approx ...

. In addition, Strehl was vice-president of the

World Council for the Welfare of the Blind The World Council for the Welfare of the Blind (WCWB) was an organization of agencies for the blind (visually impaired) established in 1949. It combined with the International Federation of the Blind in 1984 to create the World Blind Union The Wor ...

, and was a prominent member of the International Council of Educators of Blind Youth.

References

New Beacon; Journal of Blind Welfare

Blista news April 2007
Gedenktafel für Carl Strehl (translated biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Strehl, Carl Heads of schools in Germany 1886 births 1971 deaths People from Berlin German blind people Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany