Robert Von Ostertag

Vocation

German veterinarian, known as the "Father of Veterinary Meat Inspection" in Germany, because he started a rigorous program of meat inspection in Berlin in the 1890s. Ostertag's meat inspection act of 1900 greatly reduced incidences of bovine tuberculosis in human beings. He was the author of numerous publications in veterinary science, and is remembered for his influential Lehrbuch für Fleischbeschauer ("Handbook of Meat Inspection"), a book that was later translated into English. Ostertag studied medicine in Berlin and veterinary medicine in Stuttgart, afterwards becoming a professor of hygiene at Tierärztliche Hochschule Stuttgart (1891–1892) and at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Berlin (1892–1907). In 1907 he became head of the veterinary department in the Reich Health Office in Berlin. In 1910 he travelled to German Southwest Africa in order to study diseases of sheep, and in 1913 he investigated rinderpest in German East Africa. In 1920 he became head of veterinary services in Germany. He died on 7 October 1940 in Tübingen, aged 76. Link to Wikipedia biography