By Marcello Cherchi, MD PhD
Hermann Gotthold Walter Frenzel was born in Berlin (Germany) on May 16 of 1885, and died in Gottingen (Germany) on December 3 of 1967. He was a physician and professor at Georg-August University in Gottingen.
His lasting contribution to the science and practice of vestibular medicine was the development of goggles that, when worn by a patient, prevent the patient from visually fixating, yet permit the examiner to observe the patient’s eye movements.
Dr. Frenzel wrote about this in multiple publications (Frenzel 1925, Frenzel 1955, Frenzel 1956).
Below are a picture of Dr. Frenzel and a set of the goggles that he had developed (Mudry 2021).
References
Frenzel, H. G. W. (1925). “Nystagmusbeobachtung mit einer leuchtbrille.” Klinische Wochenschrift 4: 138.
Frenzel, H. G. W. (1955). Spontan- und Provokations-Nystagmus als Krankheitssymptom. Berlin, Goettingen, Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag.
Frenzel, H. G. W. (1956). “Pragmatische Systematik in der Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde [Practical methods of a systematic study of otorhinolaryngology].” Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift 98(29): 972-975.
Mudry, A. (2021). “Otorhinolaryngology as “Made in Germany” since 1921: an international perspective.” HNO 69(5): 366-384.
