Ernst von Bergmann

Ernst Gustav Benjamin von Bergmann (16 December 1836 – 25 March 1907) was a Baltic German surgeon. He was the first physician to introduce heat sterilisation of surgical instruments and is known as a pioneer of aseptic surgery.

Early life and education Born in Riga, Livonia Governorate (now Latvia), in 1860 he earned his doctorate at the Imperial University of Dorpat. He then worked as an assistant at the surgical clinic, and trained for surgery under Georg von Adelmann (his future father-in-law), and Georg von Oettingen. He received his certification in 1864.

Career From 1871 to 1878 he was a professor of surgery at Dorpat. In 1878 he became a professor at Würzburg; in 1882 he relocated to the University of Berlin as a successor to Bernhard von Langenbeck. von Bergmann continued as a professor of surgery at Berlin for the remainder of his career. Two of his assistants in Berlin were Curt Schimmelbusch (1860–1895) and Friedrich Gustav von Bramann (1854–1913).

Personal life and death Bergmann died in Wiesbaden. His son, Gustav von Bergmann (1878–1955) was a noted doctor of internal medicine.

Contributions Bergmann was the first physician to introduce heat sterilization of surgical instruments, thus greatly reducing the number of infections in surgery. He also used steam sterilized dressing material, demonstrating its superiority to chemical antisepsis.

He served as a medical officer in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), and the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), gaining valuable experience in treating wounds. He was deeply interested in the etiology and pathogenesis of diseases associated with battle-related wounds.

Bergmann pioneered the hydrocelectomy (hydrocele operation), contributed to improved appendectomy procedures, and performed the first successful esophageal diverticulum operation. With Friedrich von Bramann and English physician Morell Mackenzie (1837–1892), he attended to Frederick III (1831–1888), when the emperor was dying of laryngeal cancer.

The Ernst von Bergmann Clinic in Potsdam, the Ernst-von-Bergmann-Kaserne in Munich, and the Ernst von Bergmann Plaque of the German Medical Association, are named in his honor.