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Home > About us > History of the DGfI

About us

History of the DGfI About us

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the DGfI last year, the DGfI has published a commemorative publication which examines both the scientific triumphs in immunology in Germany and the development of our society from the past to the present.

The DGfI was formed through unification the immunological societies in the former FRG and GDR after 1945. The books examines both former separate societies and the development of the DGfI after the reunification.

The scientific triumphs in German immunology decribed in the book cover the period from the discovery and first clinical application of antibodies by Emil von Behring, Shibasaburo Kitasato and Paul Ehrlich to the incredible decline of immunology with the exodus of outstanding clinical immunologists after 1930 up to the development of hybridoma technology by Georges Koehler and César Milstein in 1975.

History

Commemorative publication for the 50th anniversary of the DGfI 2017

Order here (Hardcover)
Order here (eBook)

Presidents of the German Society for Immunology (1967-2020)
(up to 2005 'Society for Immunology')

 

1967-1976

Otto Westphal
† Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
eh. Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für Immunbiologie
Freiburg
1977-1982

Klaus Rother,
† Prof. em Dr. med.
eh. Direktor des Instituts für
Immunologie am Universitäts-
klinikum Heidelberg
1983-1990

Joachim R. Kalden
Prof. em Dr. med., Dr. h.c. mult.
eh. Direktor der Medizinischen Klinik III am Universitäts-klinikum Erlangen
1991-1992

Hermann Wagner
Prof. Dr. med., PhD, Dr. h.c.mult.
eh. Direktor des Instituts für
medizinische Mikrobiologie,
Immunologie und Hygiene
an der TU München
1993-1994

Fritz Melchers
Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
eh. Direktor des Basel Institute
of Immunology
1995-1996

Martin Röllinghoff
Prof. em. Dr. med.
eh. Leiter des Instituts für
Klinische Mikrobiologie,
Immunologie und Hygiene an
der Universität Erlangen
1997-1998

Günter J. Hämmerling
Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
eh. Leiter der Abteilung für
Molekulare Immunologie am DKFZ Heidelberg
1999-2000

Christine Schütt
Prof. em. Dr. med.
eh. Leiterin der Abteilung
Immunologie am Institut für
Immunologie und Transfusions-
medizin der Universitätsmedizin Greifswald
2001-2002

Hans-Hartmut Peter
Prof. em. Dr. med.
eh. Ärztlicher Direktor der
Abteilung Rheumatologie und Klinische Immunologie und des CCI am Universitätsklinikum Freiburg
2003-2004

Stefan H. E. Kaufmann

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c.
Leiter der Abteilung
Immunologie und Direktor
am Max-Planck-Institut für
Infektionsbiologie Berlin
2005-2006

Reinhold E. Schmidt
Prof. Dr. med.
Direktor der Klinik für
Immunologie und Rheuma-
tologie an der Medizinischen
Hochschule Hannover
2007-2008

Stefan Meuer
Prof. Dr. med.
Direktor des Instituts für
Immunologie am Universitäts-klinikum Heidelberg
2009-2010

Andreas Radbruch
Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
Wissenschaftlicher Direktor des Deutschen Rheuma-Forschungszentrums Berlin
2011-2012


Dieter Kabelitz
Prof. Dr. med.
Direktor des Instituts für Immunologie am Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein Campus Kiel

2013-2014


Hans-Martin Jäck
Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
Leiter der Abteilung für
Molekulare Immunologie am Universitätsklinikum Erlangen

2015-2016

Jürgen Wienands
Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
Direktor des Instituts für
Zelluläre und Molekulare
Immunologie der Universitäts-medizin Göttingen
2017-2018

Michael Lohoff
Prof. Dr. med.
Direktor des Instituts für
Medizinische Mikrobiologie
und Krankenhaushygiene,
Universität Marburg
2019-2020

Thomas Kamradt

Prof. Dr. med.
Direktor des Instituts für
Immunologie am Universitäts-klinikum Jena

Presidents of the Society for Experimental and Clinical Immunology of the former GDR (1954-1991)

1954-1959

Dieter Gotthold Roland
Findeisen

Prof. Dr.
an der eh. Pädagogischen
Hochschule Potsdam
1959-1968

Hellmuth Kleinsorge
† Prof. Dr.
eh. Direktor der Medizinischen Universitäts-Poliklinik Jena
1968-1973

Heinz-Egon Kleine-Natrop
† Prof. Dr.
eh. Direktor der Hautklinik an der Medizinischen Akademie Dresden
1973-75/1981-85/1989-1991

Lothar Jäger
Prof. em. Dr. med.
eh. Direktor des Instituts für
Klinische Immunologie an der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität
Jena
1975-1981

Herwart Ambrosius
Prof. em Dr. rer. nat. Dr. med. h.c.

eh. Professor für Tierphysiologie und Immunbiologie an der
Universität Leipzig
1985-1989

Helmut Friemel
Prof. Dr.

eh. Direktor des Instituts für
Immunologie an der Universität Rostock

Secretaries General of the DGfI (1967-2018)

1967-1982

H. Gerhard Schwick
† Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. med. h.c.

eh. Leiter der Forschung und
Vorstand der Behringwerke
Marburg
1982-1991

Holger Kirchner
Prof. em. Dr. med. 

eh. Direktor des Instituts für
Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin an der Universität zu
Lübeck
1992-2002

Fritz Seiler
† Dr. rer. nat.
eh. Forschungsleiter der
Behringwerke Marburg
2003-2012

Werner Solbach
Prof. Dr. med.
eh. Direktor des Instituts für
Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene an der Universität zu Lübeck
2013-2024

Carsten Watzl
Prof. Dr.
Leiter des Forschungsbereiches Immunologie am Leibniz-Institut für Arbeitsforschung IfADo
Dortmund

Secretaries General of the Society for Experimental and Clinical Immunology of the former GDR (1954-1991)

1954-1968

Lothar Jäger
Prof. em. Dr. med.
eh. Direktor des Instituts für
Klinische Immunologie an der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität
Jena
1968-1977

Wolfgang Schneider
Dr. med.
eh. Oberarzt am Institut für
Pathologie an der Charité,
Berlin
1977-1991

Jürgen Kaden
Dr. med.
eh. Leiter der Labore der Vivantes Kliniken im Friedrichshain und Am Urban, Berlin

 

Picture credits:
Westphal: private
Rother: Archive Deutsches Stiftungszentrum GmbH im Stifterverband, Bernd-Rendel-Stiftung;
Kalden: Archive DGfI (photo: Guido Rottmann);
Wagner: Archive DGfI;
Melchers: Archive DGfI;
Röllinghoff: Archive DGfI;
Hämmerling: Archive DGfI;
Schütt: Archive DGfI;
Peter: Archive DGfI (photo: J. Hirscher);
Kaufmann: Archive DGfI (photo: J. Hirscher);
Schmidt: Archive DGfI;
Meuer: Archive DGfI;
Radbruch: Archive DRFZ (photo: J. Hirscher),
Kabelitz: Archive DGfI;
Jäck: Archive DGfI;
Wienands: Archive DGfI;
Lohoff: Archive DGfI;
Kamradt: Archive DGfI;
Findeisen: Jäger, Lothar;
Kleinsorge: Jäger, Lothar;
Kleine-Natrop: Jäger, Lothar;
Jäger: Jäger, Lothar;
Ambrosius: Jäger, Lothar;
Friemel: Jäger, Lothar;
Schwick: Archive DGfI;
Kirchner: Archive DGfI;
Seiler: Archive DGfI;
Solbach: Archive DGfI;
Watzl: Archive DGfI;
Jäger: Jäger, Lothar;
Schneider: Jäger, Lothar;
Kaden: Kaden, Jürgen

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      • Fritz-and-Ursula-Melchers Postdoctoral Prize
      • Herbert-Fischer Prize for Neuroimmunology
      • The Werner-Mueller Prize
      • Georges-Koehler Prize
      • Novartis Prize
      • Robert-Koch Postdoctoral Prize (immunology)
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