Philipp Franz von Siebold and His Era

TH. BERCHEM ince its foundation 400 years ago, Wurzburg University has 1 S followed its purpose of safeguarding tradition and acting as a meeting point for scientists from horne and abroad; in short, it is a forum for national and international exchange, in accordance with its memorandum of establishment. The historie role of Wur- zburg University has been accentuated by its faculty of medicine, surgery in particular. One name, indeed, illuminates its excellent scientific reputation, a name representing a whole dynasty of scholars: Siebold. This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Philipp Franz von Siebold's birth. He is one of Wurzburg's most famous scholars. However, we should remember that his grandfa- ther, Carl Caspar, originally contributed to a considerable en- hancement of this university's reputation: he was the founder and first head of surgery. CI like the idea that he came from my hometown of Nideggen in the Eifel region, but this is only of mar- ginal interest. ) When Carl Caspar came to Wurzburg in 1760, the medical faculty consisted of five students. Since then, the total number has grown to 20,000.In 1760 Wurzburg University was much dif- ferent from nowadays. Medicine at Wurzburg during the eight- eenth century meant the Juliusspital, a very famous hospital at that time and which still exists today. The garden pavilion of that hospital was Germany's first institution for anatomy.