[Richard von Volkmann, one career of orthopaedic surgeon and poet]

Richard von Volkman was one of the most famous and important surgeons in the 19th century. He pioneered antiseptic procedures and was especially known for his achivements in orthopedic surgery. Von Volkmann was born in Leipzig, Germany and attended medical schools in Giessen, Halle, and Berlin. Starting in 1867, he worked as a professor of surgery at the University of Halle, also leading its surgical clinic. He was active as a surgeon during Seven Weeks' War with Austria in 1866 and the Franco-Prussian war 1870/1871, in the latter as consulting Generalarzt. He was important in the introduction of antiseptic wound treatment in Germany, and through it to the United States of America. Two observations in orthopaedic surgery bear his name to these days: Volkmans contracture and Heuter-Volkmans low. Volkmann also wrote poetry under the name Richard Leander and his book entitled "Dreams by French Firesides" which still has a place in literature. He died of paralysis due to a chronic spinal disease, following a prolonged illness, in the Binswanger institution in Jena in 1889, at the top of his careere.