Werner Körte was a German surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 who was a native of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. He was the brother of archaeologist Gustav Körte

Gustav Körte

Gustav Körte was a German classical archaeologist who was born in Berlin. He was the brother of philologist Alfred Körte and surgeon Werner Körte ....

 (1852-1917) and philologist Alfred Körte

Alfred Körte

Alfred Körte was a German classical philologist who was a native of Berlin. He was a younger brother to surgeon Werner Körte and archaeologist Gustav Körte...

 (1866-1946).

During the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

 he worked as a volunteer in a Typhuslazarett in Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, and in 1875 earned his medical doctorate at the University of Strasbourg

University of Strasbourg

The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....

. From 1877 to 1879 he was an assistant to Robert Ferdinand Wilms

Robert Ferdinand Wilms

Robert Friedrich Wilms was a German surgeon who was a native of Arnswalde. He studied medicine in Berlin, and in 1848 became an assistant at the Bethanien Hospital in Berlin...

 (1824-1880) at the Bethanien Hospital in Berlin. When Wilms was incapacitated due to illness, he was provisional head at the hospital. From 1889 to 1924 he was director of the Krankenhaus Urban (Urban Hospital) in Berlin.

As a surgeon, Körte specialized in liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

, gall bladder and pancreatic

Pancreas

The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as a digestive organ, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist...

 operations. From 1899 until 1929 he served as the first secretary of the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Chirurgie (German Society for Surgery), and was later its president and honorary chairman.

The singer Amalie Joachim died while undergoing a gall bladder operation under his care on February 3, 1899.

Selected publications

• Die Chirurgie der Leber und der Gallenwege, (Surgery of the Liver and Gall Bladder), 1892
• Beiträge zur Chirurgie der Gallenwege, (Contributions to Gall Bladder Surgery), 1905
• Handbuch der Praktischen Chirurgie Kapitel zum Peritoneum (Textbook of Practical Surgery of the Peritoneum)
• Die Deutsche Klinik am Eingange des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts Abschnitt über Mastdarm