Erich Franz Eugen Bracht

Erich Franz Eugen Bracht (1882-1969) was a German pathologist and gynecologist who was a native of Berlin. After earning his doctorate, he was an assistant for several years to pathologist Ludwig Aschoff (1866-1942) in Freiburg. Afterwards his interest switched to obstetrics and gynecology, and he was a gynecologist at Heidelberg, in Kiel under Hermann Johannes Pfannenstiel (1862-1909), and eventually Berlin. In Berlin he was a professor at the University of Berlin as well as director of the Charité Frauenklinik. After World War II he was a consultant of gynecology and obstetrics during the American occupation of Berlin.

In Freiburg, Bracht made important contributions concerning the pathological study of rheumatic myocarditis. From his research of this disorder, he described the eponymous Bracht-Wachter bodies, which are perivascular microabscesses in the myocardium seen in acute bacterial endocarditis.

Bracht is also remembered for the Bracht maneuver, which is a breech delivery that allows for delivery of the infant with minimum interference.