Gerhard Anton Gramberg (born 5 November 1744 in Tettens; died 10 March 1818 in Oldenburg) was the city and district physician in Oldenburg.[1] Gramberg was considered an elightenment thinker whose work as a physician focused primarily on the emerging field of social medicine but was also interested cultural politics, literature and music. In 1792, Gramberg was awarded the Cothenius Medal in recognition of his work in the medical field.
Gramberg was the son of the clergyman Anton Gramberg (1695–1770) and Juliane Wilhelmine, née Petersen (1707–1769). He attended the gymnasium in Jever where he became lifelong friends with the education reformer Christian Hinrich Wolke[de].[2] On 20 April 1763, he matriculated to study medicine and pharmacy at the University of Göttingen from 1762 to 1766[1] studying primarily with Philipp Georg Schröder[de].[2] On 1 November 1766, he received his doctorate with a dissertation on Pulmonary hemorrhages titled "De haemoptysi in genere et speciatim ejus nexu cum varia adversa ex hypocnondriis valetudine" (On haemoptysis in general and in particular its connection with various adverse health effects due to hypochondria).[2] Gramberg suffered a lung condition in the first half of his life and the dissertion was in part a reflection of his experiences.[2]
In 1771, he married Margaretha Sophia Janssen (1754–1829). The couple had six sons and four daughters, including the young lawyer and poet Gerhard Anton Hermann Gramberg[de] (1772–1816), who died prematurely.
Career
From June 1767 he began practicing medicine in Oldenburg (then part of Denmark).[2] Gramberg found the small town too small to support him, so instead built a rural practice.[2] In 3 August 1778, he was appointed to the civil service as court and garrison physician with the rank of assessor to Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg.[1] In 21 July 1783, he was promoted to the rank of chancery councillor in the civil service.[1] On 5 February 1792, Gramberg, with the nickname Plistonicus V, was elected a member (matriculation number 948) of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (Leopoldina), likely as the result of help from friend and colleague Paul Möhring.[2] Gramberg subsequently wrote several publications, written in Latin for the societies journal Acta Eruditorum.[2] In the same year, he was awarded the Cothenius Medal of the Leopoldina.[3][4] On 6 October 1794, Gramberg was promoted to chief medical officer of the duchy. His work included the training of new medical professional, inspection of pharmacies, he management of a medical practice and conducting preparations in the event of an epidemics, which were frequent.[2]
In 1800 and 1814, he participated in the implementation of medical reforms.[3] He aimed not only to cure illnesses with medication but also to combat their causes through sound medical advice. Furthermore, he advocated for the introduction of midwifery training and vaccinations and fought against infectious diseases. Alongside his work as a physician, Gramberg, as a proponent of the Enlightenment, dedicated himself to the fight against quackery, prejudice, and the superstition that illnesses were a consequence of witchcraft and magic. He also worked as a publicist in the field of medicine.[2]
Literary career
Library
Gramberg possessed an unusually large specialist library for the time, comprising 5,295 volumes, 2,114 of which were in the medical field. These volumes are now housed in the Oldenburg State Library[de].
Bibliography
The Oldenburg State Library has many digital copies of Gramberg's publications, including:
von Halem, G. A.; Gramberg, Gerhard Anton, eds. (1804–1807). Oldenburgische Zeitschrift (in German). Oldenburg: I.P. Schulze.
Gramberg, Gerhard Anton (1814). Maßregeln gegen die Verbreitung einer Pocken-Epidemie[Measures against the spread of a smallpox epidemic] (in German). Oldenburg: I. P. Schulze.
References
1234"Gramberg, Gerhard Anton". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographi. Munich: Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 1879. p.576. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
12345678910Crusius, Gabriele (1995). "Medizin und Kultur im Oldenburg der Spätaufklärung. Zur Gestalt des Gerhard Anton Gramberg" [Medicine and Culture in Oldenburg during the Late Enlightenment: On the Figure of Gerhard Anton Gramberg]. In Rahn, Kirsten (ed.). Oldenburger Jahrbuch. Vol.95. Isensee Verlag: Isensee Verlag. pp.49–72. ISSN0340-4447.
12Mettenleiter, Andreas (2002). "Selbstzeugnisse, Erinnerungen, Tagebücher und Briefe deutschsprachiger Ärzte. Nachträge und Ergänzungen II" [Personal accounts, memoirs, diaries and letters of German-speaking physicians. Addenda and supplements II]. Würzburger medizinhistorische Mitteilungen. (in German). 21: 490–518, 509.
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