Franz von Winckel

Who was Franz von Winckel?

Franz Karl Ludwig Wilhelm von Winckel was a German gynecologist and obstetrician who was a native of Berleburg.

In 1860 he received his medical doctorate from Berlin, later becoming a professor of gynecology in Rostock. In 1872 he became director of the Königlichen Landesentbindungsschule in Dresden, and from 1883 until 1907 was director of the Frauenklinik at the University of Munich.

His name is lent to "Winckel's disease", a disease originally described in the epidemic form in 1879. It has been referred to as "epidemic hemoglobinuria of the newborn". His name is also associated with a birthing maneuver known as the "Wigand-Martin-Winckel-Handgriff". The procedure is named in conjunction with Justus Heinrich Wigand and August Eduard Martin.

He was the first president of the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe.