Hermann Lossen

Hermann Friedrich Lossen (1842 to 1909) was a German surgeon, born in Emmershäuser Hütte in Hesse. His training took him across the leading medical centres of the German-speaking world: he studied under Carl von Voit in Munich, Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen in Würzburg, Bernhard von Langenbeck in Berlin and Theodor Billroth in Vienna, and he earned his medical doctorate at the University of Würzburg in 1866. He then served as an assistant to Richard von Volkmann at the University of Halle and to Gustav Simon at the University of Heidelberg. In 1866 he became habilitated for surgery at Heidelberg, where he was appointed associate professor in 1874. His career illustrates the apprenticeship network through which nineteenth century German operative surgery was passed on.