OPPENHEIMER, KARL

OPPENHEIMER, KARL (1864–1926), pioneer of infant and child welfare in Germany. Born in Bruchsal in Baden, he settled in Munich in 1890 and became a leading pediatrician. During more than 30 years of practice, he personally financed an extremely successful child welfare clinic. Oppenheimer considered the main purpose of this extensive free advisory service to be an attempt to achieve a decrease in the infant mortality rate, by educating and instructing indigent mothers. Largely on his initiative, the payment of maternity benefits and the training and recruitment of welfare workers were introduced. Oppenheimer was also responsible for the realization of a school meal service and the founding of the Jewish Country Home in Wolfratshausen. Oppenheimer published numerous articles on infant feeding; his proposals and improvements in regard to the composition and preparation of artificial infant food were vigorously contested at first but met with increasing acceptance. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Wininger, Biog, S.V.