Karoline Breitinger

Karoline Breitinger (born 4 May 1851 in Künzelsau – died 6 September 1932 in Esslingen) was a German physician who became the first female doctor in Württemberg.

Life and work The house at Kupfergasse 7, Esslingen, Germany where Breitinger had her medical offices. Karoline Breitinger grew up as the youngest of seven siblings born to Heinrich Breitinger, coppersmith. She lost her mother at an early age. At that time, girls were not allowed to attend high school, so from 1871 she lived with one of her brothers in Salzburg, Austria. From 1881 to 1886 she trained as a teacher at the Pedagogium in Linz, Austria, and in 1886 she earned the official diploma of elementary school teacher in Markgröningen, Germany.

Career From the summer semester of 1889, she began studying medicine in Zurich, Switzerland. However, because her substitute exam was not recognized as an official high school diploma, she later moved to Bern, Switzerland, where women were allowed to study at universities. She completed her doctorate studies with a thesis on the causes of infanticide and ways of preventing it. She worked in several hospitals until 1911 when, at 60 years of age, she settled permanently in Esslingen, where she set up her practice and treated patients for another twenty years. She was a popular physician and often refused to take a fee from patients for her medical treatments.

Legacy A memorial plaque is on her former house at Kupfergasse 7, Esslingen, where she had her medical practice. Streets in Hegensberg and in Künzelsau are named after her. In September 2008, a home economics school with a competence center for health and care was named the Karoline Breitinger School in Künzelsau.