Moritz Heinrich Romberg

Who was Moritz Heinrich Romberg?

Moritz Heinrich Romberg was a Jewish physician from Berlin who published his classic textbook in sections between 1840 and 1846; Edward Henry Sieveking translated it into English in 1853. His nephew was Eduard Heinrich Henoch, who was known for describing Henoch–Schönlein purpura.

He described what is now universally recognised as "Romberg's sign" in his original account of tabes dorsalis. He related early symptoms as: " The feet feel numbed in standing, walking or lying down, and the patient has the sensation as if they were covered in fur; the resistance of the ground is not felt..."

Romberg's sign he described as: "The gait begins to be insecure... he puts down his feet with greater force...The individual keeps his eyes on his feet to prevent his movements from becoming still more unsteady. If he is ordered to close his eyes while in the erect posture, he at once commences to totter and swing from side to side; the insecurity of his gait also exhibits itself more in the dark." Romberg had not observed this in other paralyses.