Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal
German neurologist (1833–1890)
Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (23 March 1833 – 27 January 1890) was a German psychiatrist from Berlin. He was the son of Otto Carl Friedrich Westphal (1800–1879) and Karoline Friederike Heine and the father of Alexander Karl Otto Westphal (1863–1941). He was married to Klara, daughter of the banker Alexander Mendelssohn. Westphal died in Kreuzlingen in 1890.
Academic career
After receiving his doctorate, he worked at the Berlin Charité, and subsequently became an assistant in the department for the mentally ill under Wilhelm Griesinger (1817–1868) and Karl Wilhelm Ideler (1795–1860). In 1869 he became an associate professor of psychiatry, as well as a clinical instructor in the department for mental and nervous diseases, In 1874 he attained the title of full professor of psychiatry.
Achievements in medicine
Westphal's contributions to medical science are many; in 1871 he coined the term agoraphobia when he observed that three male patients of his displayed extreme anxiety and feelings of dread when they had to enter certain public areas of the city. He is credited with providing an early diagnosis of pseudosclerosis, a disease known today as hepatolenticular degeneration. He also demonstrated a relationship between tabes dorsalis (nerve degeneration in the spinal cord) and paralysis in the mentally insane.
Westphal is credited with describing a deep tendon reflex anomaly in tabes dorsalis that later became known as the "Erb–Westphal symptom" (named with neurologist Wilhelm Heinrich Erb (1840–1921).
“Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal” enters the record as german neurologist (1833–1890). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Karl, Friedrich and Otto can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Karl, Friedrich and Otto provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q63728. VIAF identifies the subject as 64813842. The Library of Congress control number is n87917665. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1833, 1890, 1800 and 1879.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal primary sources, Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal archive and Karl research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.