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The successful marriage policy of margrave Leopold III increased the importance of the House of Babenberg in late medieval Austria (12th century). Historical documentation is inconclusive in providing evidence whether or not his eldest son Adalbert derived from an earlier relationship or from the marriage with King Henry IV's daughter Agnes of Waiblingen, with whom Leopold is considered to have had 17 children. As a matter of fact Adalbert was ignored in the line of succession in favor of a younger brother, Leopold IV, which has led to long term historical discussions. Human remains attributed to these individuals were subjected to DNA analysis. Autosomal, Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA analyses brought successful results, which suggested that Leopold III, Agnes and Adalbert were related in parent-son constellation, in contrast to historical considerations. A possible mix-up of Adalbert's remains with those of his younger brother Ernst could not be confirmed by DNA analysis., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Time frames are always dictated by the calendar. Kaposi was born 175 years ago, Carl Heitzmann one year before, and lupus erythematosus (LE) just one year later. Strawberry Hill and its lord played not too small a role in unraveling some details of LE and the "hemorrhagic sarcoma to-be." Kaposi (1837-1902) lent his name to one of the above two syndromes, but he published extensively on both in the same year, same journal, and same volume (German Archives, volume 4, 1872). The literary "birth" of chronic discoid LE (CDLE) (1838) trails the master's by one year. Carl Heitzmann's birth precedes it, also by one--justification enough to deal with the three in one.

This review presents a concise delineation of the historical roots of nomenclature and first reports of entities recognized today as immunoblistering dermatoses. The scope of the perspective of terminology is the time from Hippocrates BC to past mid-twentieth century AD, and pemphigus is the core of the matter. Researchers in this field may find these important historic facts interesting and useful as a quick reference.

The face of the world changed quite a lot within the past two centuries. In this article, I looked around the relation between Austria and Japan from medical, political and cultural aspects and describe it briefly in a sketch style. Each sketch presents, at one time a scholar, another time a political or cultural situation, but finally focuses on dermatological relations between Austria and Japan., (© 2011 Japanese Dermatological Association.)

Jean-Claude Bystryn, M.D., passed away on 19 August, 2010. Dr. Bystryn's research interests encompassed a large group of dermatologic conditions. He has earned a worldwide recognition for his innovative works on autoimmune blistering diseases, melanoma and alopecia areata. The most significant impact Dr. Bystryn's research has made is on our understanding of the mechanisms of epidermal cell detachment (acantholysis) in pemphigus and development of adequate treatment. During the last decade, he chaired the Medical Advisory Board of the International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation. Dr. Bystryn was an innovative physician-scientist whose scientific contributions will be long recalled and admired both by patients and colleagues., (© 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)

David Gruby (1810-1898) was an early mycologist, the most prominent between Agostino Bassi (1773-1856) who discovered the fungus on silk worms and Raymond Sabouraud (1864-1938) who wrote the first textbook in the field.

In analyzing the history of a certain disease, not only must the particular disease be investigated, but related pathological conditions that exist in a population at a given time must also be addressed. Also, the prevalence of other diseases should be explored, which may have a bearing on the problem under discussion. The history of medicine can help in this respect, revealing the circumstances or the environment when certain diseases (dis)appeared. Terminology must also be explored, and is the point with which we will begin. With regard to lupus, this again is the case (Latin for wolf; lykos ___ in Greek). Taboo and fantasy border semantics because in the naming of the wolf, the image of "tearing apart" or "pulling or ripping off" (a destructive phenomenon) comes into play. Even the Sanskrit word allows such a relation (v_ik, varkate, v_íkah [symbols: see text]). As a consequence, processes of various origin but characterized by ulceration or necrosis (neoplastic, infectious, traumatic, etc), were labeled lupus before the mid-19th century, and no specific pathogenesis was implied. This resulted in considerable confusion, as the books of Willan, Alibert, Cazenave, Schedeland, Hebra, and others prove. We see no purpose in delving further into the history of ulcerative lesions and what was understood early on to be their presumed cause, eg, back to Paracelsus and to the Old Testament ("shekhin" [see text] Hebrew, meaning "ulcer"); or, "cancer," another such descriptive term relating to destruction, taken from the Greek).

An account is given of the development of early dermatologic iconography, mostly in watercolors and copper prints, as a consequence of late Enlightenment perspectives and the development of a visually-dependent concept in a text-dominated discipline of dermatology. The first great atlases in the field of dermatology by Robert Willan (1757-1812) and Jean-Louis Alibert (1768-1837), and by M. N. Devergie (1784-1842) in venereology, are addressed and Willan's work is elaborated in detail.

It is proposed that beauty can be external or internal or both. External or physical beauty is immediately visible. Internal or inner beauty is not always immediately visible. Ideally both types of beauty are connected and spring from one another. The opposite situation, in which only one exists while the other is suppressed, is exemplified in this paper, using a tale from 19th century Croatian literature as a model. The main character is Tena. Initially physically beautiful, she is later disfigured by smallpox. Consequently her psyche metamorphoses through illness, distress and destitution, and she discovers an inner self that allows her full personality to develop. The story of Tena illustrates how love based only on outer appearance may end in unhappiness. Perhaps true love depends more on soul than surface. Endless quests for external beauty are part of medical practice today more then ever before. Skin is the paradigm of this. The dermatologist needs many clinical skills, including an understanding of psychology, when addressing skin-related problems--appearance-related problems in particular. Sometimes the humanities (e.g. literature, poetry, etc.), may help broaden our perspective of such a complex phenomenon as beauty.

Carl von Rzehaczek was a classmate and contemporary of Ferdinand von Hebra, who founded the tradition of painter-physicians at the Vienna School of Dermatology. The following reminiscence shall bring him to the attention of the reader.

In the era before the advent of routine microscopy and immunopathology, mechanical symptoms were described in an attempt to facilitate clinical diagnosis of blistering dermatoses. A plethora of eponyms and signs were described, but no proper original quotations exist. All the eponyms haunt the student and specialist. In the case of an ominous and, therefore, very important clinical phenomenon termed the Nikolskiy sign, this creates confusion about the specific meaning of the term, obscuring diagnosis and delaying initiation of an adequate treatment of pemphigus. We try to set this record straight and go to the sources. Russian, German, French, and English, at the least, are required to properly interpret the relevant descriptions. We provide an accurate interpretation of the major mechanical symptoms pathognomonic for acantholysis, dermoepidermal separation, and peeling of the entire epidermis. Correct performance of the tests and proper interpretation of the results can serve as an invaluable diagnostic tool to assist in the preliminary bedside diagnosis of serious and potentially lethal bullous dermatoses.

The development of Japanese dermatology is reviewed from the times of the founding fathers and Keizo Dohi to today. Tribute is paid to the heroes of the first hour. Thereafter, an evaluation of Japanese-authored papers in the leading journal of the field (JID) over four decades is presented, taking a triennial slot in each. The contribution of Japanese- authored papers has increased substantially over this period.

Luca Stulli of Dubrovnik (Ragusa), 1772-1828, was one of the first to make epidemiologic studies of heritable skin disorders. His treatise of what became the 'mal de Meleda' on the Adriatic island of Mljet (Meleda) is a classic in the dermatologic literature. The present study documents his life, his birth record, his portrait and recalls his original publication (in Italian)., (Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel)

A review is presented calling attention to the first naming and publication of the term 'lupus erythematosus' and to the dermatologist (M. Kaposi) who first detected the systemic nature of this disease., (Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Giovanni Alessandro Brambilia (1728-1800) was the Chief Surgeon of the Imperial Austrian Army and the first director of the newly founded medico-surgical academy in Vienna (1785). He died in Padua in late July 1800 (29th?), en route from his estate in Lombardy to Vienna, and the chiostro della magnolia in the Santo displays a memorial plaque commemorating his demise. On account of his merits for the education of (military) surgeons and the development of surgery in Austria, this short article shall serve to briefly recall his life and related facts.