[The physician and cosmetics--distorted images reflected in German medical historiography]

Physicians have been experts in cosmetics for thousands of years. Especially since the early modern period they have produced medical advice literature that included the topic of cosmetics for a general readership. Medical historians have paid scant attention to this aspect of doctors' activities, and when they did, this happened partly in a rather prejudiced manner, resulting in long-lasting misjudgements. This is illustrated with special reference to the case of the Berlin doctor and medical historian Julius Leopold Pagel (1851-1912).