Stephan Westmann

Stephan Kurt Westmann (23 July 1893 – 7 October 1964) was a German soldier and physician.

In the First World War, Westmann served in the German 29th Infantry Division on the Western and Eastern fronts and then as an Air Force surgeon, although unqualified. He volunteered to serve in the Reichswehr after the war. After he was discharged, he completed his medical studies and became a professor at the University of Berlin, and in the 1930s migrated to England and became a doctor in Harley Street, Westminster. During the Second World War, he was a British medical officer in Scotland, so that in the two World Wars he served on different sides.

In later life, Westmann appeared on BBC television to talk about the First World War from the German point of view and also wrote his memoirs.

Early life

Westmann was born in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia in July 1893, the son of Louis Westmann, a hat manufacturer. In 1913 he began to study medicine at the University of Freiburg, and early in 1914 was called up to join the German Army.

First World War

With the declarations of war of August 1914, Westmann speedily found himself serving with the Freiburg Infantry Regiment No. 113 (5th Baden), part of XIV Corps, and took part in fighting in Alsace-Lorraine, then part of Germany, which had been invaded by French forces. He was with the regiment for a year and became a non-commissioned officer, serving on the Western Front. He was later awarded the Iron Cross (2nd Class) for his courage in fighting at Baccarat. After that, he was transferred for a few months to the Eastern Front.

After at last being demobilized, Westmann returned home and qualified as a physician in Berlin. There, he married Marianna Goldschmidt, one of Germany's first women doctors. He became Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Berlin. During the war, he was put in charge of an Emergency Hospital in Lanarkshire and became an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Broadcaster and author

In 1939, Westmann published Sport, Physical Training and Womanhood, a book in which he considered the effects of sport on women and recommended that "too great indulgence in sports designed for men is not favourable for the child bearer of the race". The work was well received by The Lancet.

In 1963, Westmann was interviewed by BBC television about his First World War experiences for its project The Great War, first broadcast in 1964.

Publications

S. K. Westmann, Sport, Physical Training and Womanhood (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1939) Stephan Kurt Westmann, Surgeon with the Kaiser's Army (London: William Kimber, 1968) & Michael Westman ed., (London: Pen & Sword Military, 2014, )