Adalbert Friedrich Marcus

n important physician in Bamberg, where he purchased the castle in 1801, Marcus was born into a Jewish family, though he converted to Christianity.

Adalbert Friedrich Marcus was born the son of a Jewish merchant on November 21, 1753 in Arolsen, Hesse. At the age of 15 he went to the Collegium Carolinum in Kassel. In 1771 he began studying medicine at the University of Göttingen, from which he graduated in 1775 with a doctorate. Thus, he was one of the first Jews in Germany allowed to graduate and practice medicine.. In the same year he was appointed Privatdozent at the Medical Faculty of the University of Halle, Saale. In 1778 as a practitioner in Bamberg.

After he had converted from Judaism to Catholicism in 1781, he became a councilor and personal physician to the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg. On the suggestion of Marcus, the city built a "General Hospital," which for its time was one of the most modern medical facilities in the world.

Marcus also founded a hospital for the mentally ill in a former religious house on a hillside near the city. He also introduced the first health insurance plan for the citizens of Bamberg.

Marcus promoted arts and history in Bamberg as well. In 1801 he purchased the Altenburg Castle, built on the highest hill of the city. The castle had been burned in a war in the 16th century, and damaged in subsequent landslides - it was now purchased and the still-existing gatehouse and towers renovated and used. ETA Hoffmann, the famous poet and painter who lived a short time in Bamberg, received permission from Marcus to move into a studio on the Altenburg (the so-called Hoffmanns-Klause). Why? Marcus was the uncle of Hoffmann's crush Julia Marc. However, nothing came of this infatuation. Hoffmann used the Altenburg to live in and write in, particularly in one of the towers.

Marcus died in 1816 at home, in his mansion in the city center. He is buried at the foot of the Altenburg, which after his death was purchased by the city and fully renovated / recreated in the Romantic style of the time. Today a street and a bridge in Bamberg bear his name, and his role in reforming and creating quality health care for the citizens of Bamberg, as well as playing a part in preserving the Altenburg, remain an important legacy.