Ramya Takkellapati,Richard S. Yoon,William Rossy,Frank A. Liporace,Joseph D. Zuckerman

The Hohmann retractor is a common instrument in the orthopaedic tool set, used daily by orthopaedic surgeons worldwide. The study of the instrument’s namesake and his contributions to the field of orthopaedics offers an in-depth look at orthopaedic history during the tumultuous period surrounding World War II. Georg Hohmann (1880 to 1970) was a German orthopaedic surgeon during the political regimes of the Weimar Republic and its successor, the Third Reich (Fig. 1). He was an instrumental member and then leader of the German Orthopaedic Society, and he had considerable influence on the field of orthopaedics during this politically charged period. His achievements were not limited to medicine, however, as he also directed the reopening of the University of Frankfurt and the University of Munich after the Second World War. Dr. Hohmann’s contributions both in the field of orthopaedics and in academia are described herein.