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.