Frerichs, Friedrich Theodor von

Internist

born: 24.03.1819 in Aurich

died: 14.03.1885 in Berlin

Frerichs studied human medicine in Göttingen from 1838-41 and then worked as an ophthalmologist in Aurich. He returned to Göttingen in 1846, where he habilitated and worked on physiological-chemical investigations. In 1850, he accepted an appointment at the University of Kiel as head of the Academic Medical Institutions. In 1852, he moved to Breslau as professor of pathology and director of the medical clinic. Here he published the book "Clinic of Liver Diseases". Together with his previous work in Kiel on Bright's kidney disease and his theory of uraemic intoxication, also developed in Kiel, it helped him achieve worldwide fame.

In 1859, Frerichs succeeded Johann Lukas Schoenlein (1793-1864) at the Charité Medical Clinic in Berlin. Under his directorship, the clinic was given a small chemical laboratory in which his assistant Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) carried out his fundamental studies on the morphology of blood.

In 1882, Frerichs was a founding member and first chairman of the Congress of Internists founded in Wiesbaden and also chaired it in the following two years. He wrote his last work on diabetes in 1884.

The Theodor Frerichs Prize, endowed with €30,000, is named after Frerichs and is awarded annually by the German Society of Internal Medicine for outstanding clinical-experimental work in the field of internal medicine. A street in Wiesbaden is named after him.