Max Bielschowsky (1869–1940)

Berlin neurologist and neurohistologist Max Bielschowsky counts among the most innovative microanatomical researchers at the beginning of the twentieth century. Although being quite underrated in the history of neurology today, Bielschowsky contributed substantially to the understanding of neurohereditary pathologies, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinsonism, and Huntington’s chorea, as well as the assessment of structural changes in several movement disorders. Working with other leading research neurologists, such as Oskar and Cecile Vogt or Korbinian Brodmann at the newly founded Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in Berlin-Buch, he also pioneered neurohistological work on de- and regeneration processes in the Central Nervous System along with new morphological definitions of “nervous trauma.”