Trailblazers | Rediscovering Radiology: Heinrich Ernst Albers-Schönberg

Dating back to 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen set the field of radiology ablaze with his discovery of X-rays. Fanning the flame that turned into a wildfire, Roentgen’s momentous advance for physics and medicine lit the path for those that followed in his footsteps as different groups became interested in creating and improving the technical devices.

Rediscover radiology in rt image’s newest installment of Trailblazers as we present other milestones in X-ray imaging.


Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1865, Heinrich Ernst Albers-Schönberg was the son of August Heinrich Albers-Schönberg, a Hamburg merchant, and his wife Amélie. He became both a gynecologist and radiologist and was also known as one of Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen’s greatest followers.

Albers-Schönberg was so intrigued by radiology, and the possibilities it held for other areas of medicine, that he eventually left his private practice to pursue a career focused on this fascinating new field. In 1885, Albers-Schönberg studied medicine in Tübingen and Leipzig, Germany, with breaks for serving military duties.

In March of 1891 he received his doctorate and began working as a volunteer in a women’s clinic in Leipzig. He was known as a spirited man who harbored a lot of passion both in life and in learning, and his fellow classmates enjoyed his good sense of humor.

Within a year, he became assistant physician in the department for women and children at the newly established Allgemeines Krankenhaus Hamburg-Eppendorf – and remained there until 1894.

Ultimately, he settled into a private practice in Hamburg as a gynecologist and obstetrician in 1895 and was married to the younger daughter of senator Christian Mathias Schröder in Hamburg the following year. In 1897, Albers-Schönberg’s wife gave birth to their son, Ernst.

When Roentgen made his big discovery in 1895, Albers-Schönberg recognized the greater significance of these findings and almost immediately became a “Roentgen pioneer”, conducting his own studies to learn more about the phenomenon of X-rays. He was fascinated by the findings and sought to determine how it could be applied to his own field of medicine.

In 1897, he and Georg Deycke, an internist, founded the journal Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Röntgenstrahlen as well as the first-ever X-ray clinic and laboratory.

This private institution was dedicated to applying radiographic techniques to the field of internal medicine. In order to focus his full efforts on radiology, Albers-Schönberg left his private practice and soon became known as the first specialist in the field of “roentgenology”.

Even after Deycke moved away, Albers-Schönberg continued to run both the institute and the journal by himself. In 1903, he was also appointed as a radiologist at the Hamburg Hospital and by 1905, he was serving as the head of the entire radiology department. That same year, the very first German Roentgen Congress was held in Berlin.

On May 2, 1905, the Deutsche Röntgen-Gesellschaft (The German Roentgen Society) was founded by Albers-Schönberg, along with several other colleagues.

Albers-Schönberg continued to focus on the clarity of his X-rays, and the quality of his work continued to improve. In 1903, he developed a new X-ray device containing a moving grid of lead strips. This invention allowed for greater clarity and intensity for X-ray images because it filtered out oblique rays that would have to pass through the lead strips before reaching the film.

As a result of this invention, he was renowned for producing some of the best X-rays in his time. In fact, in 1904, he took home the grand prize at the World Fair in St. Louis for his diagnostic X-ray images, which far exceeded his competitors’ work in clarity.

One of Albers-Schönberg’s greatest gifts was his ability to apply his knowledge and studies across various medical fields. He took the discoveries in the field of radiology and constantly attempted to apply them to different areas of medicine where they might find new uses.

His former work in gynecology was also combined with his new study of radiology when he made the discovery in 1903 that irradiation had a damaging effect on the reproductive glands of rabbits. This critical finding eventually led to the development of radiation-protection methods.

Though little was known about the dangers of radiation, Albers-Schönberg made some of the greatest advances in understanding these effects, leading to further research about sterilization and understanding its possible causes.

In addition, a journal paper he had published in 1903, Albers-Schönberg is credited with providing a description of osteopetrosis or “marble bone disease”. Osteopetrosis is a rare, inherited disorder in which the bones harden and become denser as a result. Today, the disease is often referred to as Albers-Schönberg disease.

During World War I, Albers-Schönberg worked as a consultant to the Ninth Army Corps. He received a Red Cross medal for his work and was also credited with developing practical techniques for the rehabilitation of wartime amputees.

In 1919, nearing the end of his life, the University of Hamburg bestowed a very special honor upon Albers-Schönberg by electing him ordentlicher – the first full professorship of its kind – in recognition of his contribution to the field of radiology. Albers-Schönberg held this tenure until his death.

Unfortunately, however, his great successes did not come without hardships. Ironically, while he was working to better understand radiology and its potential dangers, the irony is that he himself suffered from the effects of harmful exposure.

In 1908, Albers-Schönberg developed radiation-induced neoplasia in his hands, and his right middle finger and left arm were eventually amputated. Tumors in his thorax and shoulder also gave him a tremendous amount of pain, but nevertheless, he continued to work.

Toward the very end of his lifetime, Albers-Schönberg was experiencing a great amount of pain from his conditions and on June 4, 1921, he died at only 56 years of age. He had suffered cardiac failure as a result of pneumonia.

Following his death, his work continued to go on, as his studies were the catalyst for so many eventual discoveries.

In fact, scientists even had a chance to better understand the effects of radiation on Albers-Schönberg’s own body; he left directions that the results of his autopsy should be published in the interest of other sufferers. It was one final nod toward knowledge and science – two driving factors of Albers-Schönberg’s entire life.


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— Lindsey Getz is a Pa.-based freelance writer. Questions and comments can be directed to editorial@rt-image.com.