# Augenklinik Herzog Carl Theodor

Augenklinik Herzog Carl Theodor (The Herzog Carl Theodor Eye Clinic) is a specialist clinic for ophthalmology in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Founded in 1895, it is one of the oldest eye clinics in Bavaria. The building, which predates the establishment of the clinic, is a listed building.

## History

In 1895, Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria founded an eye clinic in Munich. The ophthalmologist and brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria had acquired the residential building at Nymphenburger Strasse 43 in Munich on the initiative of his wife Marie-José, who was born an Infanta of Portugal. This hospital was founded primarily for destitute eye patients and was known as the Charitable Institute for destitute eye patients. With its 56 beds, the Duke's eye clinic was the largest such institution in Munich and even surpassed the Munich University Hospital.
Marie-José, the duke's second wife, supported Carl Theodor in his medical work. She assisted him with his operations and managed the organization of the clinic. By setting up the Duke Carl Theodor Eye Clinic Foundation, she ensured that the clinic continued to exist after the Duke's death. In the years following the First World War, the clinic's financial situation deteriorated. Money for patient care was scarce and the number of paying patients continued to fall due to inflation and general hardship. It was not until the 1920s that a care contract with the social and health insurance companies brought financial relief.
During the Second World War, the building was again used as a military hospital, this time as an eye hospital. The clinic was severely damaged by bombing raids. In the 1960s, there were plans to sell the property and build a new building elsewhere. However, these plans were not realized.
In the 1980s, a fundamental redesign and reorganization of the eye clinic was initiated by the head physician Bernhard von Barsewisch. Under his leadership, the Herzog Carl Theodor Eye Clinic developed into a modern hospital in terms of construction, organization and therapy. Bernhard von Barsewisch left the clinic in 1993 to set up a new eye clinic in his home town of Brandenburg.
In 1999, the foundation was able to purchase the former registry office Munich III at Nymphenburger Straße 45 from the city. The property used to belong to the Duchess and was used by the clinic from 1914 to 1918. In 1938, she sold it to the City of Munich, probably in order to be able to support the clinic financially. The registry office was extensively renovated and won the Munich Façade Award in 2002. Between 2013 and 2019, the building was extensively renovated and rebuilt. The extension adjacent to the clinic, which housed several doctors' surgeries, was completely demolished and rebuilt. It now houses an eye diagnostics center and operating theatres in addition to several inpatient practices.
Today, the Herzog Carl Theodor Eye Clinic is one of the best-equipped and most modern specialist eye surgery clinics in Germany. It has 47 beds and more than 90 employees. The more than 20 attending physicians operating at the eye clinic performed over 16,000 operations in 2022.
The clinic is a participant in Ökoprofit as part of the Bavarian Environmental Pact.

## The building

The four-storey plaster building with polygonal corner turrets in neo-Renaissance style was designed by Hans Hartl in 1891 as a tenement building. It was converted into a clinic in 1895. The building was renovated after 1945. In the 1980s and 1990s, the clinic was completely renovated in accordance with the preservation order and is registered as a listed building. The chapel interior dates back to 1895.

## Medical management

* 1895–1909: Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria
* 1909–1943: Heinrich Zenker
* 1943–1978: Carl Zenker
* 1978–1993: Bernhard von Barsewisch
* 1993–2015: Klaus G. Riedel
* Since 2015: Christos Haritoglou