Ludwig Aschoff

Who was Ludwig Aschoff?

Karl Albert Ludwig Aschoff was a German physician and pathologist. He is considered to be one of the most influential pathologists of the early 20th century and is regarded as the most important German pathologist after Rudolf Virchow.

Aschoff was born in Berlin, Prussia. He studied medicine at the University of Bonn, University of Strasbourg, and the University of Würzburg. After his habilitation 1894, Ludwig Aschoff was appointed professor for pathology at the University of Göttingen in 1901. Aschoff transferred to the University of Marburg in 1903 to head the department for pathological anatomy. In 1906, he accepted a position as ordinarius at the University of Freiburg, where he remained until his death.

Aschoff was interested in the pathology and pathophysiology of the heart. He discovered nodules in the myocardium present during rheumatic fever, the so-called Aschoff bodies. Aschoff's reputation attracted students from all over the world, among them Sunao Tawara. Together they discovered and described the atrioventricular node.