Target, karl

(¤ 1874, † 1945) Dermatologist, studied in Marburg, Berlin and Halle. Dermatological training in Bonn and Breslau. In 1909 Karl Zieler was appointed to the University Dermatological Clinic in Würzburg, which he headed until his retirement in 1939. His successor was the NSDAP member Karl Hoede.

Zieler was one of the most influential dermatologists of his time. He was the author of several important textbooks and manuals, such as the 5-volume work: Die Haut-und Geschlechtskrankheiten, written with the Viennese dermatologist Leopold Arzt and published by Urban und Schwarzenberg in 1934. In 1933 he was elected chairman of the German Dermatological Association. He filled this position until the end of the war in 1945.

His inglorious role at the time of National Socialist Germany is clearly documented. Zieler was initially a member of the German National People's Party until 1936, before joining the NSDAP. In his activities, he openly displayed his national conservative and anti-Semitic basic attitude. He influenced major personnel decisions and congress participation. Zieler played a major role in the decline of dermatology during the National Socialist era. On March 28, 1945, he and his partner chose suicide by poisoning.

His scientific focus was on skin tuberculosis and syphilis and gonorhoea.

1. Elsner P et al. (2002) Medizin im Nationalsozialismus am Beispiel der Dermatologie. Erlangen: Collegium Europaeum Jenense, Palm & Enke: 53 - 66.
   

2. Scholz A et al. 2009) History of German-language dermatology. Freiburg: Wiley-VCH: 96 - 137

3. Zieler K (1924) Textbook and atlas of skin and venereal diseases. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin and Vienna