[History of anatomy in Strasbourg]

Abstract

When printing came into being, Strasbourg played a crucial role in the dissemination of the knowledge on anatomy, especially with the publication of Brunschwig's famous treatise on surgery in 1497. The first official human dissection in Strasbourg was performed in 1517. The teaching of medicine really began with the establishment of the Academy in 1566, but it was only in 1652 that a specific chair was created for anatomy. The first anatomical theatre was opened in 1670 in a secularized church contiguous to the city hospital. Until 1708, the teaching of anatomy is combined with that of botany; it was only from this date that anatomy was to be associated with surgery, and such was the case until the French Revolution. During the nineteenth century an impressive museum of anatomy was gradually established in Strasbourg. In 1872, after the annexation of Alsace, when the new german university was created, normal and pathological anatomy were separated and each chair attached to a particular institute. The building housing the institutes of normal and pathological anatomy was inaugurated in 1877 and is still used today. In 1919, when the Faculty of medicine was reorganized after Alsace was restored to France, histology and embryology were definitively separated from anatomy. Many famous anatomists worked in Strasbourg, among whom are to be found: J. G. von Andernach (1497-1574), T. Lauth (1758-1826), F. D. Reisseissen (1773-1828), J. F. Lobstein (1777-1835), E. A. Lauth (1803-1837), E. Küss (1815-1871), E. Koeberlé (1828-1915), E. Beaunis (1830-1921), H. D. Bouchard (1833-1899), J. G. Joessel (1838-1892), W. Waldeyer (1836-1921), G. Schwalbe (1844-1916), W. Pfitzner (1853-1903), F. Keibel (1861-1929), A. Forster (1878-1957) and Ph. Bellocq (1888-1962).