Historic review: a short history of neuropediatrics in Germany between 1850 and 1950

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, there has been increasing knowledge about the diagnosis and therapy of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system and muscle in children. The leading causes were cerebral palsy, epilepsy, inflammatory and degenerative diseases, and the innate reduction in intelligence. Because of the often lack of healing options, many pediatricians had little interest in treating these children and left their care to the pedagogues and psychologists. Pioneers of child neurology in the German-speaking countries were Ludwig Mauthner, Franz von Rinecker, Julius Zappert, and Georg Peritz. Especially with the beginning of the National Socialist terror regime, rigorous treatment methods were used, the care facilities for disabled children were closed, and these were either actively murdered or interned under inhumane conditions. In this time, some specialists in neuropediatrics had an ambivalent position between the care for their patients and the selection for their elimination. After 1950, new findings in diagnostics and therapy, especially from Anglo-American countries, played a significant role in the rise of neuropediatrics in Germany.