Hereditary Health Court

The Hereditary Health Court (Erbgesundheitsgericht), also known as, the Genetic Health Court, were courts that decided whether people should be forcibly sterilized in Nazi Germany.

Dr Karl Astel was in charge of the Hereditary Health Supreme Court from 1934-1937.

Some respondents were described by Lothrop Stoddard, an American eugenicist, visiting the Nazi state in 1939. That day tried were an 'ape like man' who had married a Jewish woman, a manic depressive, a deaf and mute girl, and a 'mentally retarded' girl.