The history of census of cripples (,,Reichskruppelzahlung'')

The census of cripples ("Reichskruppelzah- lung") in the German Reich plays a central role in the development of orthopaedic surgery. Local censuses c onducted by protestant ministers had already pointed out the great number o f disabled children without appropriate care. It was the achievement of Kon rad Biesalski, who was an orthopaedic surgeon, and of Eduard Dietrich, a Pr ussian government official, that a nation-wide census far disabled people w as conducted. The concerns of the Reich-health-administration, which had co mplained about the way the survey was to be made,were neglected. These conc erns were not all unjustified. Both the planning of the census itself and t he technical interpretation of the obtained numbers were full of errors. Th e number of cripples in need of a place in an asylum were very exaggerated. Biesalski is to be held responsible for this systematic error. For him the census was only a way to influence the public opinion and had no scientific value. The public was worried by the great numbers of cripples in need of medical care and the foundation of asylums for cripples was added to the so cial political agenda. Along with these asylums came the promotion of ortho paedic surgery. The law,which laid the foundation for these institutions,th e "law for the welfare of the cripples in Prussia" of 1920, would have neve r been passed, if it had not been for Biesalski's manipulated numbers. One can say that the artificially inflated numbers of the "Reichskruppelzahlung " were a lie for a good cause.