A danish provincial physician and his patients the patient records from the practice of Christopher Detlev Hahn in Aarhus around 1800

The Danish physician Christopher Detlev Hahn (1744-1822) graduated in medicine from Halle and set up a medical practice in Aarhus in 1766. More than 2000 of his patient records, bound in twenty-seven volumes, are kept in the archives of the Medical Museum in Copenhagen. The records, which are written in Latin and resemble hospital records, contain entries from each visit to the patients. A sample of these records, especially those from 1806, have been analysed regarding diagnoses, alleged causes of disease, examination of patients and prescription of different treatments. It was noticeable to what extent Hahn, who belonged to the Hippocratic tradition, individualised both diagnosis and treatment. The introduction of variolation and later vaccination is discussed. This collection of records provides a unique insight into medical practice at that time outside the hospitals.