Career
In December 1907, Strehl lost his eyesight while working in a chemical factory in New New York Later, after returning to Europe, he commenced with studies in Hamburg. In 1915, he was hired by University of Marburg ophthalmologist Alfred Bielschowsky (1871-1940) to assist with World War I soldiers who were blinded by shell fragments and poison gas.
In March 1916 Strehl and Bielschowsky established the Verein blinder Akademiker Deutschlands (German Society of Blind Academicians), an association to provide higher education assistance for the blind.
Shortly afterwards he founded the Deutsche Blindenstudienanstalt (German Blind Study Institute. Aka Carl Strehl-Schule) for the visually impaired, which today is a nationally recognized institution in Marburg.