Note: In this post, I publish images of my great-great-grand-uncle Dr. Jonas Bruck (1813-1883) spanning the period from when he was a young man in the 1830s to sketches done of him by his grandson on his death bed on the 4th-5th of April 1883.
Related Posts:
POST 68: DR. JULIUS BRUCK AND HIS INFLUENCE ON MODERN ENDOSCOPY
POST 68, POSTSCRIPT: DR. JULIUS BRUCK, ENGINEER OF MODERN ENDOSCOPY-TRACKING SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS
POST 100: DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK, DENTIST TO GERMANY’S LAST IMPERIAL FAMILY
POST 117: DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK—DENTIST TO NOBLES, ARISTOCRATS, & NOTED SCHOLARS AND ACADEMICIANS
POST 145: PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS ABOUT MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDUNCLE, DR. JONAS BRUCK (1813-1883)
My great-great-great-uncle Dr. Julius Jonas Bruck (1813-1883) is buried in the Stary Cmentarz Żydowski we Wrocławiu, the Old Jewish Cemetery in Wrocław, Poland [German: Breslau], along with his son Dr. Julius Bruck (1840-1902), and their respective wives. Their restored headstones line an inner face of the wall surrounding the cemetery. (Figure 1) Jonas’ son Julius was the famed inventor of the stomatoscope, a water-cooled diaphanoscopic instrument for transillumination of the bladder via the rectum. (Figure 2) For this reason, his biography and photo can be found in Wikipedia, even on US Wikipedia. The Old Jewish Cemetery in Wrocław is one of the few places where graves of any of my Bruck ancestors can be found.
Dr. Jonas Bruck was in his own right an accomplished dentist and is considered one of the founders of scientific dentistry in Germany and the author of one of the first textbooks on dentistry in Germany. Originally published I believe in 1856, it is entitled “Lehrbuch der Zahn-Heilkunde,” which translates as “Textbook of Dental Medicine.” He published another book in 1857 entitled “Die scrofulöse Zahnaffection,” translated as “the scrofulous tooth extraction.” Quoting from AI Interview as to what I think this was about: “Scrofula, or tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis, is a type of tuberculosis infection primarily affecting the lymph nodes in the neck. While it doesn’t directly cause diseases of the teeth, it can manifest in the mouth and jaw area, and the presence of scrofula can complicate dental treatments and increase the risk of dental complications.” Clearly, Jonas was advancing a scientific approach to dental treatment of scrofula specifically as it related to its impact on the mouth and jaw area.
Despite Jonas’ prominence and my access to an extensive collection of images of my Bruck family, for the longest time I had no pictures of him. Relatedly, one of my cousins once gave me a picture arguably of Jonas. I never believed this photo was of him because it bears no resemblance to any members of my ancestral line. (Figure 3) Readers, I think, will agree that the person in question looks foreboding and menacing.
The first image I obtained of Jonas Bruck intriguingly came not from any member of my family but rather from someone I now consider a friend, Dr. Tilo Wahl, who stumbled across my blog. (Figure 4) Besides being a medical doctor in Berlin, he is a phalerist, that’s to say a person who studies and collects orders, fraternities, and award items, such as medals, ribbons, and other decorations. This field of study is known as phaleristics. In former times, the medals and decorations were attached to sashes worn over the recipient’s shoulder, especially as part of a uniform or official dress, or worn on the lapel. Many readers have no doubt seen old photographs of individuals wearing their award items thusly.
In any case, back in 2013, Tilo purchased at auction the medals and awards once belonging to my eminent Bruck ancestor from Breslau, Germany [today: Wrocław, Poland], Dr. Walther Wolfgang Bruck (1872-1937). (Figure 5) Walther was the subject of Posts 100 and 117. As I explained in those posts, Tilo acquired Walther’s medals and orders from Walther’s grandson, Nicholas Newman (1960-2015), whom he subsequently met in person. During their meeting (Figure 6), Tilo purchased additional items from Nicholas and took detailed digital images of Walther’s photo album. Tilo shared pictures with me of everything he acquired. Buried amidst all this paraphernalia was a high-quality photo of Jonas Bruck (Figure 7), Walther’s grandfather. This is the first picture I obtained of Jonas, but it would not be the last.
Fast forward, a few years ago I was contacted through my blog by an English lady from Wolverhampton, Helen Winter, née Renshaw (1948-living), a lady I eventually determined is my fourth cousin. (Figure 8) Jonas Bruck was her great-great-grandfather, and her great-grandfather was Felix Bruck (1843-1911), brother of the previously discussed Julius Bruck; Felix was another of Jonas’ three legitimate sons.
Regardless, amongst the voluminous family materials she’s inherited are multiple paintings and photographs of Jonas, which I’m reprinting here with Helen’s kind permission. (Figures 9-13) Two even show Jonas on his death bed on the 4th and 5th of April 1883 limned by Helen’s grandfather Eberhard “Hardy” Bruck (1877-1960), a gifted sketch artist. (Figures 14-15) In a future post, as a guest writer, Helen will discuss an endearing and detailed birthday card Eberhard drew for his father Felix’s 50th birthday, identifying all the family members illustrated.
