Located in the heart of the Franconia Region, the University of Würzburg is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Germany, having been founded in 1402.
University of Würzburg
Institut für Geschichte der Medizin
The university is named for Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, who reestablished the university after a short closure in 1582, and Prince Elector Maximilian Joseph, the prince under whom secularization occurred at the start of the 19th century.
Würzburg boosts a historical record of achievement in the life sciences and especially in medicine, with prominent figures such as Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775-1854) who taught at the University
from 1803 to 1806 and helped the construction of the new Juliusspital and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845–1923), who won the Nobel prize for his discovery of X-rays.
While still a relatively young institution, the Institut für Geschichte der Medizin is the second oldest medical history institute in Germany after Leipzig.
The Institut began its work in 1921 in the premises of the Pathological Institute at the Luitpold Hospital under Georg Sticker. It was disbanded during the Nazi regime, but was then revived in the early 1950 and has now reached international recognition under the leadership of its current chair, the historian Michael Stolberg.
