Franziska Tiburtius was born in Rügen in 1843. After completing her teacher's exam, she decided to study medicine. Since women were not yet admitted in Germany at that time, she took up her studies in Switzerland and received her doctorate in 1876. At the Charité, Tiburtius became a co-founder and senior physician at the polyclinic for women. Although she was not recognized as a doctor by her male colleagues, she opened her own practice in 1878,1