Heinrich Ernst Albers-Schönberg (21 January 1865 – 4 June 1921) was a German

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

and

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

. He was a native of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He studied medicine at the Universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, where in 1891 he earned his medical doctorate under the guidance of Heinrich Curschmann (1846-1910). From 1892 to 1894 he was an assistant at Hamburg-Eppendorf Hospital, afterwards working as an assistant to

Paul Zweifel (1848–1927) at the University of

. Soon afterwards, he settled in Hamburg as a medical practitioner. In 1897, with

internist Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of th ...

(1865–1938), he established an

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

clinic and laboratory in Hamburg. Later, he was appointed head of the radiology department at St Georg Hospital. In 1919 he became a full professor and chair of radiology at the newly established

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. Albers-Schönberg is credited with providing a description of

osteopetrosis Osteopetrosis, literally , also known as marble bone disease or Albers-Schönberg disease, is an extremely rare inherited disorder whereby the bones harden, becoming denser, in contrast to more prevalent conditions like osteoporosis, in which ...

, a condition sometimes referred to as "Albers-Schönberg disease". It is described as a syndrome of excessive bone

calcification Calcification is the accumulation of calcium salts in a body tissue. It normally occurs in the formation of bone, but calcium can be deposited abnormally in soft tissue,Miller, J. D. Cardiovascular calcification: Orbicular origins. ''Nature M ...

causing a marble-like appearance with increased radiological density of the skeleton. He was an early specialist in the field of radiological medicine. In 1903 he discovered that exposure to radiation caused damage to the reproductive glands of rabbits. In cooperation with other scientists, he helped bring about numerous technical innovations into the field of radiology. He is credited with the introduction of radiation protection devices, procedures and equipment for radiation/dose assessment, the "orthoroentgenograph", and the compression diaphragm. He received a grand prize at the 1904 World's Fair in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

; his diagnostic X-ray pictures far outclassed the competition in regards to

clarity Clarity may refer to: Music Albums * ''Clarity'' (Jimmy Eat World album) or the title song, 1999 * ''Clarity'' (Sifow album) or the title song, 2006 * ''Clarity'' (Zedd album) or the title song (see below), 2012 * ''Clarity'' (mixtape), by K ...

. In 1903 he published his best known work, a book on radiological techniques called ''Die Röntgentechnik - Lehrbuch für Ärzte und Studierende'' (sixth edition, 1941).Heinrich Ernst Albers-Schönberg - bibliography
@

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In 1905 he was a founding member of the ''Deutsche Röntgen-Gesellschaft'' (German Radiological Society). With Georg Deycke, he founded the journal ''Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Röntgenstrahlen''. His name is included on the ''

Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations The Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations (also known as the X-ray Martyrs' Memorial) is a memorial in Hamburg, Germany, commemorating those who died due to their work with the use of radiation, particularly X-rays, in medicine. ...

'' erected in Hamburg in 1936.

References

* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

.''
''Heinrich Albers-Schönberg''
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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albers-Schonberg, Heinrich 1865 births 1921 deaths Physicians from Hamburg German radiologists German gynaecologists Academic staff of the University of Hamburg University of Tübingen alumni Leipzig University alumni X-ray pioneers People from Hamburg