Haemel, joseph

(¤ 1894, 1969) Dermatologist. Hämel was born in Straubing on the Danube. A-levels in Regensburg; studied medicine in Würzburg, where he passed his state examination in 1922. From 1925 dermatological training with Karl Zieler in Würzburg. Senior physician there in 1928, habilitation in 1929. Hämel was a party member of the NSDAP and a member of the SA from 1933. Appointed associate professor in 1934. In 1935 he was appointed to Greifswald as successor to Walther Schönfeld, who had moved to Heidelberg. Hämel only stayed in Greifswald for six months. He then followed a call to Jena. Here he demonstrated his loyalty to the new socialist state and was nominated by the FDJ university group in Jena as a "Merited Doctor of the People". Hämel was appointed Rector of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena on November 8, 1951. When the University of Jena was to be proclaimed a "Socialist University" on the occasion of the 400th anniversary celebrations, he did not want this event to be associated with his name. So in 1958, even before the proclamation, the 63-year-old demonstratively left for West Berlin. He lived in Munich until the spring of 1959.

In 1959, Hämel succeeded Walther Schönfeld as Chair of Dermatology in Heidelberg. In 1961/62, he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. From 1961-1964 he was President of the German Faculty Association. He was also chairman of the editorial board of the Münchner Medizinische Wochenschrift.

On April 9, 1969, Hämel died as a result of hypernephroma.

His role during the National Socialist regime is controversial. Hämel had been a member of the NSDAP since May 1, 1933 under the membership number 5364220 (Siegling C 2005). He held the office of Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1939 to 1944 under the Rector, racial researcher and standard bearer Karl Astel. In this function, he enforced the 4th Ordinance to the Reich Citizenship Act of 25.07.1938, which provided for the revocation of the academic degrees of Jewish doctors.

Fields of research: Together with Hoede, he wrote the chapter "Tuberculosis of the skin" in the "Handbuch der Hautkrankheiten" by Arzt und Zieler. His publications focused on the use of glucocorticoids and the problem of penicillin resistance. He also dealt with the serology of syphilis, the introduction of the Nelson test and the possibilities of culturing gonococci.

1. Elsner P (2020) 95 years of the Jena University Dermatology Clinic - a personal reflection. Act Dermatol 46: 330-335
2. Siegling C (2005) Prof. Dr.med. Josef Hämel (1894-1969): Life and work. On the Internet: https: www.db-thueringen.de/receive/dbt_mods_00004920