Eugen Rosshirt

Who was Eugen Rosshirt?

Johann Eugen Rosshirt was a German obstetrician and gynecologist who was a native of Oberscheinfeld.

He studied medicine at the University of Würzburg, where he earned his doctorate in 1818. Afterwards, he was an instructor of midwifery and prosector-surgery at Bamberg, and in 1833 succeeded Michael Jäger as director of the obstetrics hospital at the University of Erlangen. He would remain at Erlangen until his retirement in 1868.

Rosshirt is remembered for his efforts in trying to establish women's healthcare as a separate and specialized area of study at Erlangen. Under Rosshirt's direction, a new building located near the university hospital was used as a women's clinic. A growing number of births and students, as well as the initiation of gynecological practices led to creation in 1878, during Karl Schroeder's tenure, of the first "modern" gynecological hospital at Erlangen.