Rudolf Kaltenbach

Who was Rudolf Kaltenbach?

Rudolf Kaltenbach was a German gynecologist who was a native of Freiburg im Breisgau.

In 1865 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Vienna, and afterwards trained under Johann von Dumreicher at the surgical hospital in Vienna. From 1867 to 1873 he was an assistant to Alfred Hegar in Freiburg, and was later a professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the University of Giessen. In 1887 he became an OB/GYN professor at Halle, where he succeeded Robert Michaelis von Olshausen. Kaltenbach served in the military during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars.

Kaltenbach is remembered for his numerous medical publications, including a book on operative gynecology that he co-authored with Alfred Hegar. He is credited with introducing a gynecological graphic aid involving menstruation cycles called the Kaltenbachschema.