Julius Tandler (February 16, 1869 – August 25, 1936) was an Austrian physician and

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician, whose research secured him a lasting place in the history of

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

. His main claim to fame was his ambition to introduce a comprehensive system of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

and social services in the

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

municipality in the interwar years.

Life

Born in

Jihlava Jihlava (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihla ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

, Tandler attended the Gymnasium Wasagasse in the Vienna

Alsergrund Alsergrund (; ) is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. As a central district, the area is densely populated. Accor ...

district. From 1910 he served as Professor of Anatomy at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

; during World War I from 1914 to 1917 he was Dean of the Medical Faculty. After the war, he worked at the Office for Public Health and from 1920 as Health Care Councillor of the City of Vienna, fighting against widespread

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Tandler became an elected member of the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

in 1925. In the early 1930s, he also was a consultant for the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. Increasingly the target of

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

invectives, Tandler after the

Austrian Civil War The Austrian Civil War () of 12–15 February 1934, also known as the February Uprising () or the February Fights (), was a series of clashes in the First Austrian Republic between the forces of the authoritarian Fatherland Front (Austria), rig ...

(''Februarkämpfe'') of 1934 and the rise of

Austrofascism The Fatherland Front (, VF) was the right-wing conservative, authoritarian, nationalist, corporatist, fascist and Catholic ruling political organisation of the Federal State of Austria. It claimed to be a nonpartisan movement, and aimed to unite ...

was forced to quit his job. He emigrated to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and in 1936 followed a call to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to be an advisor in the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

hospital reform, but died there the same year. His ashes were returned to Vienna and buried at

Feuerhalle Simmering Feuerhalle Simmering is a crematorium with attached urn burial ground in the Simmering (Vienna), Simmering district of Vienna, Austria. It lies at the end of an alley, directly opposite Vienna Central Cemetery's main gate. Description Opened o ...

in 1950.

Reception

Tandler was a leading anatomist of the Vienna University; he is also considered one of the architects of

Red Vienna Red Vienna (German language, German: ''Rotes Wien'') was the colloquial name for the Vienna, capital of Austria between 1918 and 1934, during which the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAP) mainta ...

and the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

welfare state. He promoted

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marit ...

and

marital therapy Couples therapy (also known as couples' counseling, marriage counseling, or marriage therapy) is a form of psychotherapy that seeks to improve intimate relationships, resolve interpersonal conflicts and repair broken bonds of love. History Marri ...

, while on the other hand, he vehemently advocated

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

policies and proposed the sterilisation or extermination of "unworthy life" (''unwertes Leben''). The square in front of Vienna Franz Josef Station in Vienna-Alsergrund is named "Julius-Tandler-Platz", and a student residence in the

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th Districts of Vienna, district in the city of Vienna, Austria (). It is located in the north of Vienna, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential bui ...

district is named "Julius-Tandler-Heim".

Selected works

* '' Anatomie des Herzens'', 1913 - Anatomy of the heart. * ''Die biologischen Grundlagen der sekundären Geschlechtscharaktere'', 1913 - The biological basis of secondary sexual characteristics. * ''Topographie dringlicher Operationen'', 1916. * ''Lehrbuch der systematischen Anatomie'', four volumes 1918-24 - Textbook of systematic anatomy. * ''Das Wohlfahrtsamt der Stadt Wien'', 1931 - Welfare of the city of Vienna.Biography and photo
@

aeiou Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works on Austria in German language, German, with some articles in English language, English, initiated by Graz University of Technology, TU Graz. As of 2022, Austria-Forum has be ...

Sources

Felix Czeike Felix Czeike (21 August 1926 – 23 April 2006) was an Austrian historian and popular educator. He was an author and partly also editor of numerous publications on the history of Vienna and was the director of the . His main work is the six-volume ...

: ''Historisches Lexikon Wien'', vol.5 (Kremayr & Scheriau: Vienna, 1997), . * ''"Julius Tandler"'', in: Gerhard Heindl (ed.), ''Wissenschaft und Forschung in Österreich: Exemplarische Leistungen österreichischer Naturforscher, Techniker und Mediziner'' (Frankfurt am Main, 2000) 89-104. * ''"Zur Umsetzung und Verbreitung von eugenischem/rassenhygienischem Gedankengut in Österreich bis 1934 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Wiens"'', in: Sonia Horn (ed.), ''Medizin im Nationalsozialismus—Wege der Aufarbeitung'' (Vienna, 2001) 99-127. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tandler, Julius 1869 births 1936 deaths People from Jihlava 19th-century Austrian people 20th-century Austrian people 19th-century Czech people Physicians from Austria-Hungary Austrian eugenicists Austrian public health doctors Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians Burials at Feuerhalle Simmering