Target, karl

(b. 1874, d. 1945) Dermatologist; studied in Marburg, Berlin, and Halle. Completed his dermatology training in Bonn and Breslau. In 1909, Karl Zieler was appointed to the University Dermatology Clinic in Würzburg, which he headed until his retirement in 1939. His successor was NSDAP memberKarl Hoede.

Zieler was one of the most influential dermatologists of his time. He authored several significant textbooks and handbooks, including the five-volume work co-authored with the Viennese dermatologist Leopold Arzt and published by Urban & Schwarzenberg in 1934: Skin and Venereal Diseases. In 1933, he was elected president of the German Dermatological Association. He held this position until the end of the war in 1945.

His inglorious role during the Nazi era is clearly documented. Zieler was initially a member of the German National People’s Party until 1936, before joining the NSDAP. In his professional activities, he openly displayed his national-conservative and anti-Semitic views. He influenced key personnel decisions and participation in medical conferences. Zieler played a significant role in the decline of dermatology during the Nazi era. On March 28, 1945, he and his partner, Margarethe Beier, took their own lives by poisoning.

His primary areas of scientific research were cutaneous tuberculosis, syphilis, and gonorrhea.

1. Elsner P et al. (2002) Medizin im Nationalsozialismus am Beispiel der Dermatologie. Erlangen: Collegium Europaeum Jenense, Palm & Enke: 53 - 66.
   

2. Scholz A et al. 2009) History of German-language dermatology. Freiburg: Wiley-VCH: 96 - 137

3. Zieler K (1924) Textbook and atlas of skin and venereal diseases. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin and Vienna