Download PDF
J Neurol Surg A Cent Eur Neurosurg 2022; 83(04): 396-402
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1743533
Historical Article

The Association of Neurosurgeons in the German Democratic Republic and its First Congresses in Divided Germany

Michael Synowitz
1   Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
,
Detlef Rosenow
2   Department of Medical, ISC-Swiss AG, Zug, Switzerland
,
Hans-Joachim Synowitz
3   Berlin, Germany
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

The German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC) was founded in Bonn in 1950 and saw itself as the all-German representation of neurosurgeons. The development of neurosurgery in divided Germany was different in each case as part of a system and was not unaffected by the confrontation between the two blocs (cold war), which also had a negative impact on the field of science. Thus, early on, restrictions on intra-German travel from the East made normal relations difficult. But travel restrictions also came from the West, where an Allied Travel Office in West Berlin decided whether an East German could enter a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country. Nevertheless, it was possible that Georg Merrem from Leipzig took over the second chairmanship of the board of the DGNC of the election period from 1960 to 1962 and eight individual memberships of German Democratic Republic (GDR) neurosurgeons were still tolerated by the state side. The construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961 meant that these connections also collapsed. Merrem, at that time the only full professor of neurosurgery in the GDR, founded the “Association of Neurosurgeons in the GDR” in 1962 in agreement with the state authorities. With the foundation of a GDR neurosurgeons' society, the demarcation from the DGNC desired by the state was visibly accomplished. There were no official relations between the two neurosurgical societies. During the period of its existence until 1990, the entire work of the East German society was under the guidance and control of state institutions, which in turn derived their work from the guidelines of the party and the decisions of the council of ministers. Using the example of the congress activities of the first 5 years after the Wall was built, we show this dependence on state institutions. It extends from congress planning to reporting. With available figures of participating speakers from West Germany and other countries, it is demonstrated for the individual congresses in Leipzig, Magdeburg, and Erfurt that the German–German connection was continued despite all adverse circumstances. The presence of West German colleagues, who were not deterred from attending the congress even by the construction of the Berlin Wall, can be seen as a visible expression of an unbroken togetherness. However, already in 1967, the party and the council of ministers passed the resolution “On the organization of work in the field of science and culture of the GDR to West Germany as well as West Berlin.” This regulated membership, the associated travel, and the conditions for publications in West German journals. Among other things, this directive prohibited membership in scientific societies, including the DGNC, based in West Germany. The organization of its own congresses took on a special significance because a congress visit from East to West was regulated by the state and thus only possible in isolated cases.

Keywords

GDR - neurosurgery - congress - cold war - Berlin wall


Publication History

Received: 10 October 2021

Accepted: 30 November 2021

Article published online:
19 April 2022

© 2022. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

  • References

  • 1 Anwesenheitsliste. 1. Neurochirurgen Tagung 2.- 4. September 1948 Freiburg. Dtsch Z Nervenheilkd 1950; 162 (01) 3-8
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Riechert RT. 1. Neurochirurgen Tagung 2.- 4. September 1948 Freiburg. Dtsch Z Nervenheilkd 1950; 162 (01) 3-8
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Steininger R. Deutsche Geschichte seit 1945 Darstellung und Dokumente in vier Bänden, Band 2: 1948–1953. Frankfurt: Fischer Taschenbuchverlag; 1996
    Google Scholar
  • 4 Hasselmann C. Prof. Dr. med. Friedrich Loew. Vita eines deutschen Neurochirurgen. Dissertation Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein; 2005
    Google Scholar
  • 5 BArch, DR/3/B/14036 (BArch Bundesarchiv) https://www.bundesarchiv.de/EN/Navigation/Use/Referencing/referencing.html
    PubMed
  • 6 Dube E. Die Grundlegung der Neurochirurgie in Thüringen durch Nikolai Guleke (1878–1958). Medizinprofessoren und ärztliche Ausbildung G Wagner and G Wessel Jena, Universitätsverlag Jena GmbH; 1992
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 HUB. UA, UK-P Felix
    PubMed
  • 8 Niederhut J. Wissenschaftsaustausch im Kalten Krieg. Böhlau Verlag; 2007
    Google Scholar
  • 9 DR/3/B/14036 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 10 BArch, DR/3/B/13650 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 11 BArch, Q1/21380 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 12 Block W. Eröffnungsansprache des Vorsitzenden. Langenbecks Arch Klin Chir 1959; 292: 484
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Felix W. Zwischenbemerkung des Vorsitzenden. Langenbecks Arch Klin Chir 1959; 292: 484
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Begenau J. Staatssicherheit an der Charité. Metropol Verlag; 2017
    Google Scholar
  • 15 Hottenrott L. Die Charité als Observationsobjekt des MfS. In: Herrn R, Hottenrott L. eds. Die Charité zwischen Ost und West 1945–1992. 2010: 189-202
    Google Scholar
  • 16 Kabinettsprotokolle (1965)
    PubMed
  • 17 Genscher HD. Hans-Dietrich Genscher Erinnerungen. Siedler Verlag; 1995
    Google Scholar
  • 18 Kissinger HA. Memoiren. 1968–1973. Bertelsmann; 1979
    Google Scholar
  • 19 Strauß FJ. Die Erinnerungen. Siedler Verlag; 1989
    Google Scholar
  • 20 BArch, DQ/101/755 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 21 BArch, DQ/101/582 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 22 Synowitz M, Synowitz HJ, Rosenow DE. Die Gründung der “Vereinigung der Neurochirurgen in der DDR” am 25.06.1962 - staatliche Vorgabe oder Eigeninitiative. In: Karenberg A, Kumbier E. eds. Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Nervenheilkunde. Johannes Königshausen und Thomas Neumann; 2018: 331-353
    Google Scholar
  • 23 Usbeck W. [Georg Merrem 21.9.1908-8.7.1971]. Zentralbl Neurochir 1971; 32 (05) 297-298
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Schoenemann J. Das Gesundheitswesen in der DDR: Hochschulmedizin und wissenschaftliche Gesellschaften. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie - Mitteilungen; 2005: 53-61
    Google Scholar
  • 25 Kumbier E. Die Entstehung der Fachgesellschaft für Psychiatrie und Neurologie in der DDR. In: Holdorff B, Kumbier E. eds. Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Nervenheilkunde. Johannes Königshausen und Thomas Neumann; 2009: 403-417
    Google Scholar
  • 26 BArch, DQ1/5719 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 27 BArch, DQ1/6086 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 28 BArch, DQ1/23706 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 29 BArch, DQ/103/122 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 30 BArch, D01/16754 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 31 Matthes T, Roland L, Spaar H. Die medizinisch-wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaften der DDR. VEB Volk und Gesundheit Berlin; 1981
    Google Scholar
  • 32 BArch, DQ1/22447 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 33 Merrem G. Tagung der Neurochirurgen in der DDR Aktuelle Probleme aus der Neurochirurgie und Elektroenzephalographie. vol 8. Beiträge zur Neurochirurgie. Ambrosius Barth; 1964
    Google Scholar
  • 34 Nachrichtendienst AD. Hirnchirurgen tagten. Neues Deutschland.11.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 DQ1/21881 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 36 DQ/101/765 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 37 DQ1/22424 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 38 DY 30/270 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 39 DY 20 JIV2/2/919 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 40 DY30 JIV2/2/963 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 41 DQ1/23704 (BArch Bundesarchiv)
    PubMed
  • 42 PA AA MfAA/C554/75
    PubMed
  • 43 Schürmann K. Bericht über die 20. Jahrestagung 1969 der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie 2.-5. Juli 1969 Gießen. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 1970; 23: 151-181
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 44 Pia HW. [In memory of Georg Merrem, 1908-1971]. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 1971; 25 (01) 123-124
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 45 Skrzypczak J. Prof. Dr. med. habil. Georg Merrem (1908 bis 1971). Ärzteblatt Sachsen 2008; 9: 480-481
    PubMedGoogle Scholar