Paul Gottlieb Werlhof
| Born | 1699 |
| Died | 1767 |
Related eponyms
Bibliography
Biography of Paul Gottlieb Werlhof
Paul Gottlieb Werlhof studied medicine at the University of Helmstädt under Brandanus Meibom (1678-1740), son of Heinrich Meibom (1638-1700), with whom he was closely related, and Lorenz Heister (1683-1758). After completing his studies he settled in Peine near Hildesheim in 1721, practicing there for four years. In between, in 1823, he obtained his doctorate his doctorate in Helmstädt.
In 1825 Werlhof moved to Hanover where his skills as a physician as well as his learnedness soon earned him a great reputation. He thus attracted an extraordinary large number of clients, not least from the higher social circles, and became one of the best known physicians in Europe being consulted in far away Moscow and Rome. In 1740 he was appointed royal life physician – königlicher Leibarzt. He later rejected an invitation to become professor of medicine in his native town, remaining in Hanover until his death in 1767.
Werlhof was a learned physician, a shrewd observer as well as a writer of great style. Besides his achievements in medicine, he also holds a not insignificant position among the numerous German eighteenth-century poets. His poems and hymns were all in German, while all his medical works were in Latin. Werlhof was a friend of Albrecht von Haller (1798-1777), also an accomplished poet.
