Miehlke, Klaus

Internist, Rheumatologist

Born: 17.08.1916 in Opole (Silesia)

died: 06.11.2009 in Wiesbaden

Miehlke studied medicine in Berlin, Rostock and Würzburg. After the war, he worked at the Surgical and Gynecological Clinic in Nuremberg, at the Cantonal Hospital and at the University Rheumatology Clinic in Zurich. In 1957 he went to the Medical Clinic of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia/USA, then in 1959 to the University Hospital Göttingen. In 1961, Miehlke became Chief Physician and Medical Director of the Municipal Rheumatism Clinic I and then also of the private Rheumatism Clinic II in Wiesbaden. In 1974, he habilitated and was appointed professor by the University of Mainz.

In 1970, Miehlke was one of the founding members of the German Rheumatism League. In 1977/78 he was President of the German Society for Rheumatology, and in 1984-92 he was permanent Secretary of the German Society for Internal Medicine. He also served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Medical Association and, since 1978, on the committees of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (then the Federal Health Office). Thanks to Miehlke's work, as the Professional Association of German Internists noted in its newsletter in 2001, Wiesbaden became one of the world's leading rheumatology centers. In 1971, together with Carol Nachman and Mayor Alfred Herbel, he established the Carol Nachman Prize for Rheumatology.

Miehlke received the Golden City Plaque in 1979 for his special services to the development of Wiesbaden's healthcare system. In 1995, he was made an honorary citizen of the state capital of Wiesbaden. Further awards included the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany (1983) and the Ernst von Bergmann Plaque of the German Medical Association (1976). In 1999, he received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In Wiesbaden, the Klaus Miehlke Clinic in Leibnizstrasse, which he headed for many years, bears his name.