Who was Ludwig Guttmann? If you haven’t heard of him, don’t worry, because he was an unsung hero of the 20th century who saved countless lives and helped patients around the world get back on their feet after being injured or having an illness. Guttmann had humble beginnings, being born to middle-class parents in Germany in 1898, but his destiny was anything but ordinary, as he would go on to not only save many soldiers during World War II but also revolutionize the way we rehabilitate today.
15 August 1892 – 14 January 1980
He was a neurologist who developed new and effective methods of treatment for patients with spinal cord injuries. With funding from his friend, Sir Stokely De-Vitas, he founded Spinal Injuries Centre at University College Hospital in 1944. Here is how Guttmann rehabilitated World War II soldiers in World War II as they arrived home with spinal cord injuries. He completely changed what we know about how to heal these paralyzing injuries and ushered us into a new era of medicine (analogous to Drs James Parkinson or Thomas Sydenham’s contributions). Many people call him a physician giant or trailblazer. Read on to learn more about Ludwig Guttmann.
World War I
Ludwig Guttmann is considered one of Britain’s greatest neurologists and psychiatrists. During World War I, he was captured by German forces and held as a prisoner of war. After his release, he started a private practice in London and became interested in how soldiers who had been shell-shocked by war could be rehabilitated. He saw disabled veterans suffering without hope for rehabilitation, who would become depressed and suicidal when their disability prevented them from working or living independently. When given an opportunity to start an experimental hospital for the treatment of these veterans, Guttmann jumped at it.
World War II
In 1939, Ludwig Guttmann was awarded a research grant to study in Oxford, England. But because of World War II, he had to leave his family behind and go into exile in Britain as an enemy alien. His work on spinal cord injuries with paraplegic war veterans brought him fame; he decided that paralyzed individuals should be treated and reintegrated back into society instead of being institutionalized for life. In 1944, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury Buckinghamshire (known as the English Nuremberg), he organized treatment programs for patients who previously were confined to their beds for years on end. In 1948, Guttmann started using existing sports facilities as part of therapy.
Nuremberg Trials
In a Nuremberg prison cell, Sir Ludwig Guttmann had a nightmare. It was November 1946, and just four years earlier he had been an esteemed neurologist in London. But after surviving an attempt on his life by Hitler’s SS during World War II, he found himself in Nuremberg at one of history’s most infamous trials. While his fellow prisoners dreamed of being free men again, Dr. Guttman dreamt of fixing their broken minds. And not just with medicine or surgery—something new. He wanted to help patients with spinal cord injuries walk again by simply harnessing them to parallel bars suspended from a high frame that could be moved in and out over pools of water.
The Paralympics
Ludwig Guttmann was a German physician who led efforts to rehabilitate patients after WWII, which inspired his creation of wheelchair sports. He created several different games for disabled and non-disabled athletes alike, eventually launching what we now know as Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960. In 1948, he also established Stoke Mandeville Hospital to help treat wounded soldiers during war and is credited with creating Walking for Fitness, which helped injured soldiers gain strength faster by walking on their own legs. The hospital serves as headquarters for many international disability organizations today, including AMREF and Enable Ireland.
