[A Japanese in Marburg : Excerpts from the Memories - Jiden - of the Japanese Bacteriologist Taichi Kitashima (1870-1956)]. / Ein Japaner in Marburg : Aus den Erinnerungen ­ Jiden ­ des japanischen Bakteriologen Taichi Kitashima (1870­1956).

The heart of this article is the transmission of selected chapters from the Japanese bacteriologist Taichi Kitashima's (1870-1956) autobiographical memoirs (in Japanese, Jiden) published in 1955, in which Kitashima reports on his stay in Marburg in a very personal and subjective way. Like other Japanese physicians of his generation, Kitashima spent several years in Germany in order to work with the serum researcher Emil von Behring and continued his education there. The contact came through Kitashima's teacher Shibasaburô Kitasato, who had worked with Behring in Berlin on questions of immunology. The memoir gives insight into Behring's laboratory work and his relation to his "subordinates". The editors investigate to what extent Kitashima's assessment, made from a distance of fifty years, of his stay in Germany as "wasted time" was accurate, given the advantages that arose from having been part of a vibrant European scientific community, including encounters in the Pasteur Institute in Paris, and why he cultivated his contacts with Germany and the Behring family during National Socialism.

[Not Available] / Randnotizen als Lebensspuren?

Are marginal notes marginal? Backed by a book from the private library of Emil von Behring the paper reflects whether annotations are peripheral sources or whether they can give some hints concerning biographical details. Behring's traces of reading are exposed and discussed by using the example of Otto Rot's Arzneimittel der heutigen Medicin (1877). The marginal notes demonstrate Behring's intensive work on hypnotics, sedativs, and analgetics which were possibly used for the therapy of others or himself. The findings will be compared to other sources of Behring's personal papers.

[On the Awarding of the First Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine to Emil von Behring]. / Emil von Behring: erster Nobelpreisträger für Medizin.

In his will of 1895, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel laid the foundation for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace to those who had "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" during the last year. The Nobel Prize is today widely considered as the most prestigious international symbol of scientific excellence, but it still is an exciting research question how it gained such prestige. Drawing on files from the Emil von Behring Archive in Marburg, Germany, and the Archive of the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm this essay aims at shedding light on why the first Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1901 was awarded the German immunologist Emil von Behring, and how this decision was viewed at that time. This study is part of a research project that explores mechanisms leading to scientific recognition by using the example of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

[Behring's personal papers--Behring's lives]. / Behrings Nachlässe--Behrings Biographien.

The article wants to show the connection between the enriched personal papers of Emil von Behring (1854-1917) in the Behring archives in Marburg (established in 1927) and the history of the first biography of the scientist, which was published by Heinz Zeiss and Richard Bieling during Nazi era in 1940. One focus is placed on Behring's widow Else von Behring (1876-1936), who was active in arranging Behring's papers in proper order and in searching a biographer of her husband's life. The paper also presents new discoveries from the Behring Works archives in Marburg which show Behring--founder of the serum therapy and first winner of the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1901--as an entrepreneur who was fighting for control and influence in the field of science and of business: maybe another narration of Behring's life.

[Scholarly life in the late 17th century: the Giessen professor of medicine Michael Bernhard Valentini (1657-1729)]. / Gelehrtenleben im spRäten 17. Jahrhundert--eine Annäherung an den Giessener Medizinprofessor Michael Bernhard Valentini (1657-1729).

Towards the end of the 17th century the university of Giessen was--compared to, for example, Leipzig or the newly founded university of Halle--a rather small university in terms of student numbers. Situated in a provincial town of about 5,000 inhabitants and far away from the capital, Darmstadt, the university was a firmly denominational, i.e. orthodox Lutheran, counter-foundation against the neighbouring university of Marburg in Calvinist Hesse-Kassel. This paper describes under what circumstances Michael Bernhard Valentini (1657-1729), a typical and well-known scholar in his time, became successful and influential in the early Enlightenment. Born in 1657 as the son of a university servant (Pedell) and therefore underprivileged, he succeeded in becoming dean of the medical faculty and eventually rector of Giessen University. He was professor of Physica naturalis as well as of medicine and gained importance and influence by establishing experimental physics in Giessen. Numerous publications, not only in medicine but also in natural history and about curiosities, attracted the attention of many scientific societies whose membership he obtained. Valentini had studied philosophy and medicine in Giessen at a time when the curricula in medicine and natural philosophy were still taught in the traditional scholastic manner. After having worked as a medical practitioner, he made an educational tour through Western Europe in 1686, during which he met Robert Boyle in London. In 1687 Valentini became professor of physics in Giessen. In the same year, he bought several physical instruments--including an air pump from the Musschenbroek workshop in Leiden, at that time a centre of technical and scientific innovation. Thanks to Valentini Giessen became the third university in Germany (after Altdorf and Marburg) that offered the "new" experimental physics in its curriculum.

[100 years of skin hospital Giessen: from the lupus hospice to the center of dermatology and andrology]. / 100 Jahre Hautklinik Giessen: Von der Lupusheilstätte zum Zentrum für Dermatologie und Andrologie.

For one hundred years the skin hospital at the clinical center of Giessen University has been an important institution for patients with skin diseases. The hospital has not only been an address for patients to turn to but also a place of work and training for health personnel. Its profile has been especially established, formed and developed by the chairs of dermatology. Its development was strongly influenced by the treatment of lupus and STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). This is exemplary for the development of other German dermatology clinics.