• 6/23/2014

Celebratory event on June 25: Cutting-edge medicine at the heart of the matter

40 Years of the German Heart Centre Munich

Germany’s first successful heart transplant was carried out in 1981, right in the middle of Munich at the German Heart Centre of the Technische Universität München (TUM). At an anniversary event to be held on Wednesday June 25th, Bavarian Minister President Horst Seehofer, TUM President Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann and Medical Director Prof. Rüdiger Lange will honor the Centre’s achievements over the past 40 years. In his address, Prof. Hans Meisner will look back on the Centre’s history, which he experienced first hand.

State-of-the-art medicine at Lazarettstrasse: For 40 years, patients have been receiving medical treatment in the German Heart Centre Munich. (Photo: German Heart Center Munich)
State-of-the-art medicine at Lazarettstrasse: For 40 years, patients have been receiving medical treatment in the German Heart Centre Munich. (Photo: German Heart Center Munich)

The Bavarian State government approved the establishment of the German Heart Centre Munich in 1971. As a suitable structure for the new facility, the clinic building on Lothstrasse was taken over from the Bavarian Red Cross, and in 1974 the German Heart Centre Munich was opened as the first “single-organ” clinic in Europe. The Centre became affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the TUM in 1997.

The Centre’s guiding principle is as simple as it is successful: bringing the different specialist disciplines required for the diagnosis and treatment of cardio-vascular diseases together under one roof. Thus, the German Heart Centre Munich combines Departments of Cardiovascular Surgery, Cardiovascular Diseases in Adults, and Paediatric Cardiology and Congenital Cardiac Defects with Institutes of Laboratory Medicine, Anaesthesiology, and Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Thanks to the day-to-day interdisciplinary interaction and cooperation between the Departments and Institutes, and the highly-competitive team of doctors, scientists, and nurses, the Centre has become one of Europe’s leading specialist clinics.

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery is one of the top centers in Germany for the treatment of acquired cardiac defects and the largest center for the treatment of congenital cardiac defects in newborns, infants, and children. A computer tomograph (CT) scanner, which was specially developed for cardiovascular imaging and the first of its kind in Europe, was installed at the German Heart Centre Munich in 2004. During the anniversary event on June 25th, the Minister President of Bavaria will formally handover a new state-of-the-art CT scanner that enables minimally-invasive and even faster cardiac diagnostics.

“Cutting-edge medicine” is also the topic of a panel discussion to be held as part of the celebratory event. In addition to TUM President Wolfgang A. Herrmann and Minister President Horst Seehofer, the panel will include Medical Director Prof. Rüdiger Lange, Prof. Peter Ewert and Prof. Heribert Schunkert, who were both appointed Department Directors at the Heart Centre in 2012.

The scientific symposium for doctors and scientists, which will be held on the afternoon of June 25th, will reveal just how far cardiac medicine has developed over the past 40 years. The participants will discuss the most up-to-date processes for the diagnosis of cardiac diseases and the current options for their treatment.

On Saturday June 28th, the German Heart Centre Munich will open its doors to the public. During hourly tours to be held as part of this “open house” event, visitors will be given an opportunity to get to know the facility and its staff. In addition to health checks and tutorials with a mobile defibrillator for adults, a wide-ranging children’s program will be offered.

Program for the Anniversary Event on Wednesday, June 25th

Time: Wednesday, June 25th, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: Atrium of the German Heart Centre Munich, Lazarettstrasse 36, 80636 Munich

10:00 – 10:30 a.m.  Registration in the atrium of the German Heart Centre Munich

10:30 – 11:00 a.m.  Opening addresses by:

  • Medical Director Rüdiger Lange
  • Prof. Hans Meisner: “Looking Back over 40 Years German Heart Centre Munich”
  • TUM President Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann
  • Minister-President of Bavaria Horst Seehofer

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Panel discussion on the topic of “Cutting-edge Medicine”

  • Moderator: Sigmund Gottlieb
  • Participants: Minister President Seehofer, TUM President Prof. Herrmann, Medical Director Prof. Lange, Department Directors Prof. Ewert and Prof. Schunkert

12:30 – 12:40 p.m.   Summary and handover (CEO Robert Siegert)
12:40 – 1:00 p.m.   Inauguration of the new CT scanner


Symposium: “40 Jahre Deutsches Herzzentrum” (40 Years of the German Heart Centre) – review and assessment of cardiac medicine

Time: Wednesday June 25th, 2 – 7 p.m.
Location: Lecture hall of the German Heart Centre Munich, Lazarettstrasse 36, 80636 Munich

Further information

Website of German Heart Centre Munich

The Clinics of the TUM

Technical University of Munich

Corporate Communications Center

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