Neurosurgery in Germany Around 1950. On the 75th Anniversary of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC)

Dear colleagues, dear readers,

In 2001, the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC) published a comprehensive book to mark its 50th anniversary. Twenty years later, the DGNC's Permanent Commission “History” was founded. The group felt it was appropriate to recognize the 75th anniversary of the founding of our Society as well, albeit on a smaller scale. In this issue we present the situation of neurosurgery in Germany in the period of foundation of its professional society from different perspectives. In this context, it should be noted that the founding of the German Society of Neurosurgery was a project initiated exclusively by the West German side, although it was initially conceived as a pan-German organization. It reflected not only the recent division of Germany, but also the lack of representation of specific professional interests in the East. In the 1960s, East German members were urged to form their own association for political reasons.

Neurosurgeons practicing today can hardly imagine, and often do not know, how neurosurgery was practiced 75 years ago, who the players were, and what difficulties they faced. Many data for the articles were obtained from the Karl August Bushe Archive for the History of German Neurosurgery in Würzburg, which is funded by the DGNC.

An overview by Stephan Jaster of the social and socio-political situation in 1950, just 5 years after the end of WW II, is followed by an article by Hartmut Collmann and Jutta Krüger on the genesis of the DGNC, which actually began in 1939. Wolf Ingo Steudel and Hartmut Collmann then report on the development of neurosurgical care in the first 10 years after the end of the war. Finally, Thomas Kinfe, Volker Coenen, and Joachim Krauss present the rise of the new discipline of stereotactic neurosurgery in Germany around 1950. This is followed by a comparison of the topics of the then leading and still existing neurosurgical journals Zentralblatt für Neurochirurgie (CEN) and Acta Neurochirurgica between 1951 and 2023 by Daniel Dubinski and Uwe Hans Wiese.

Two articles provide a practical illustration of how neurosurgeons were working at the time: Werner Braunsdorf describes the brain tumor surgery of Wilhelm Tönnis' school around 1950 and Peter A. Winkler the technical standards of neurosurgery at that time, focusing on craniotomy. Uwe Hans Wiese discusses the contribution of neurosurgery to the neurosciences based on the papers published in the Zentralblatt für Neurochirurgie around 1950.

The last two articles deal with personal relationships: Ulrike Eisenberg looks at the network that Wilhelm Tönnis, known as the doyen of (West) German post-war neurosurgery, built up in the years before and during World War II. Finally, Hartmut Collmann, Ulrike Eisenberg, Wolf Ingo Steudel, and Jürgen Piek describe the development of international relations between German neurosurgeons in the post-war period up to the founding of the EANS.

Why did we choose the CEN? The founding of the world's first neurosurgical journal Zentralblatt für Neurochirurgie as the forerunner of the CEN will be 90 years ago next year. After many difficult years during the division of Germany, the CEN is now once again the organ of the DGNC and is also internationally recognized, thus providing a perfect platform for these brief insights into history.

The publication of this issue would not have been possible without the generous financial support of several sponsors. We would like to thank the board of the DGNC with its president Hans Clusmann and the treasurer Jan Kaminsky, the Berufsverband Deutscher Neurochirurgen (BDNC), and the companies MedTech Industry and Söring. We would also like to thank the other members of our commission, Kea Franz, Hans-Jürgen Reulen, and Detlef Rosenow, who contributed with additional data and advice to the development of the articles. Last, but not least, Jessica Bogensberger and Salman Sharif from Thieme contributed to the success of this issue with their professional assistance and patient advice.

Have we aroused your interest? The Commission looks forward to your questions and comments!

Publication History

Article published online:
21 May 2025