Hermann Stieve

Hermann Stieve (1886 to 1952) was a German physician, zoologist and anatomist, born in Munich. He studied medicine in Munich and Innsbruck, qualified as a physician in 1912, and worked at the Munich Anatomical Institute until 1918. He habilitated in anatomy in Munich and Leipzig, became professor of anatomy at the University of Halle in 1921 (rector in 1933), and from 1935 until his death directed the anatomical institutes of the University of Berlin. His research concerned how the reproductive organs are built and how they work, including changes during pregnancy, the structure of the human placenta, and the effect of fear and imprisonment on the female and male reproductive organs. The German national biography records that after 1945 he was publicly accused over research on organs of executed people, including victims of National Socialism, and that questioning by German authorities and the Soviet occupation power found he had no influence on the executions. Later scholarship on his work remains contested.