Andreas Röschlaub

Andreas Röschlaub (21 October 1768 – 7 July 1835) was a German physician born in Lichtenfels, Bavaria.

He studied medicine at the Universities of Würzburg and Bamberg, gaining his doctorate at the latter institution in 1795. In 1798 he became a full professor of pathology at Bamberg, and in 1802 transferred to the University of Landshut, where he was director of the medical school. In 1826 he relocated to the University of Munich as a professor of medicine. He died on July 7, 1835 during a recreational trip to Ulm.

Röschlaub is remembered for development of the Erregbarkeitstheorie (excitability theory), which was a modification of Brownianism, a speculative theory of medicine that was initially formulated by Scottish physician John Brown (1735–1788).

He was editor of Magazin zur Vervollkommnung der theoretischen und praktischen Heilkunde (Magazine for the Perfection of Theoretical and Practical Medicine), and the author of a textbook on classification of diseases titled Lehrbuch der Nosologie.

Until recently, the history of German medicine, particularly of Romantic medicine, had essentially denigrated, then largely forgotten, the contributions of the physician Andreas Röschlaub of Bamberg, a process that one reviewer terms "a curious combination of obscurity and notoriety." (Nigel Reeves) However, a major revision of his place in German and European medicine, in particular Romantic medicine and the advancement of the Brunonian system, by N. Tsouyopoulos, has come to the conclusion that he "was one of the most well-known, controversial and influential personalities of his time." His writings were extensive and influential as regards the problem of the reform of medicine and its placing on a sound scientific footing, and it was these writings that framed much of the debate in Germany at the time. Important figures of the time, such as Schelling and Hufeland undertook trips to Bamberg to meet him and seek his views. As one contemporary historian wrote "even public teachers and not insignificant figures wrote textbooks in which almost every paragraph begins with 'Röschlaub teaches' " .

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