Career
As a child his family moved back to Germany, settling in the town of Godesberg. He received his medical doctorate in 1890 from the University of Marburg. In 1896 he became an assistant to Wilhelm Uhthoff (1853-1927) in Breslau, and during the following year, was appointed director of the university eye clinic in Rostock.
In 1925 he was chosen as president of the German Ophthalmological Society (Deutsche ophthalmologische Gesellschaft).
Axenfeld has several eponymous ophthalmic terms named after him, including: "Axenfeld"s conjunctivitis": Conjunctivitis caused by Moraxella lacunata. Sometimes called "Morax" disease": named after Victor Morax (1866-1935), who described the disorder independent of Axenfeld.
"Axenfeld"s nerve loop": A posterior ciliary nerve loop that is noticeable in the sclera. "Axenfeld syndrome": A syndrome characterized by corneal embryotoxon (posterior arcuate ring), a distinct Schwalbe"s line and iris adhesion to Schwalbe"s line.