Ludwig Bruns

Who was Ludwig Bruns?

Ludwig Bruns was a German neurologist who was a native of Hanover.

He studied medicine in Göttingen and Munich, receiving his doctorate in 1882. Subsequently, he was an assistant to Eduard Hitzig at the insane asylum in Nietleben as well as at the psychiatric and nerve clinic in Halle. Afterwards he worked with Karl Westphal and Hermann Oppenheim at the Charité Hospital in Berlin. Bruns would maintain a working relationship with Oppenheim throughout his professional career. He also studied in Paris and England, later returning to his hometown of Hanover, where in 1903 he became a professor of neurology. Bruns was the first director of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Nervenärzte.

Bruns was interested in all aspects of neurology, however he is best known for his work in the fields of child neurology and neuropsychology. In 1906 he published Die Hysterie im Kindesalter, in which he explains that abnormal behaviour in children is due to internal conflicts, being largely caused by overbearing parents who favor harsh punishment. His most significant work was Handbuch der Nervenkrankheiten im Kindesalter, a textbook he co-authored with August Cramer and Theodor Ziehen.