Background
He was the son of anthropologist Johannes Ranke (1836–1916).
He was the son of anthropologist Johannes Ranke (1836–1916).
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
Afterwards, he was in charge of an anthropological research expedition to Brazil. Following his return to Germany, he spent two additional years as an assistant in the pediatric clinic, then relocated to Arosa, Switzerland, where he worked as a doctor in a tuberculosis sanatorium. In 1906, he returned to Munich, where he practiced pediatrics, and specialized in diseases of the lung.
In 1915 he earned his habilitation in internal medicine at Munich, and in 1921 became an associate professor
At Munich, he was director of the Fürsorgestelle für Lungenkranke. During the last decade of his life, he immersed himself in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant.
He is remembered for introducing the hypothesis that lung tuberculosis develops in three stages — referred to as Ranke Dreistadienlehre (also known as "Ranke"s stages of tuberculosis"). His name is also associated with the so-called "Ranke complex", defined as a combination of late fibrocalcific lesions of the lung and lymph node that evolve from the Ghon complex.