Five Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine. That’s the legacy of the Facultés de Médecine de Strasbourg. Right here before us stands a testament to centuries of medical advancement. A place where countless lives have been touched. A place of healing and discovery.
The Facultés de Médecine de Strasbourg has deep roots. Its story begins not in a grand opening but in a simple anatomy demonstration in 1517. In the following years private medical instruction emerged. Then in 1538 came the official founding of the city’s High School. Jean Sturm a key figure led the school’s transformation into a Protestant gymnasium. Medicine became one of its four core subjects. The first professor of medicine Sebald Hawenreuter arrived in 1540.
The school’s evolution continued. In 1566 it received the prestigious status of a Protestant academy. This elevated its standing and influence. By 1585 chairs of theoretical and practical medicine were established. Public dissections became a regular occurrence under the direction of Professor Johann Rudolph Salzmann. This was from 1611 to 1652. These events took place in various locations throughout Strasbourg.
Emperor Ferdinand II granted the academy university status in 1621. This momentous event allowed it to award doctorates. The university now comprised four faculties. These encompassed theology philosophy law and medicine. Each faculty was governed by a dean. The medical faculty boasted three chairs anatomy and surgery pathology and materia medica and chemistry.
Strasbourg’s political landscape shifted in 1681. The city became a royal city. Despite the change King Louis XIV preserved the Protestant university’s autonomy. An important development followed in 1728. J J Fried established a midwifery school. This institution provided training for female medical students. A significant manuscript catalogue of anatomical preparations appeared in 1737. This documented the work of Johann Ludwig Hommel.
The practice of medicine changed dramatically in France. The need for a medical degree to practice was removed. The Constituent Assembly even abolished universities faculties and learned societies. A critical need for trained physicians then emerged. To address this the Convention established three schools of health in 1794. These were located in Paris Montpellier and Strasbourg. The Strasbourg school initially focused on training military medical officers. It later resumed training civilian physicians. The number of chairs in the medical school increased from three to twelve. A dual system was developed. This offered both a three-year officer of health program and a four-year doctorate program.
In 1806 the school formally regained its title as a faculty of medicine. The faculty’s growth demanded more space. In 1819 a museum of anatomy was established. The faculty moved to the children’s asylum in 1825. A new building was constructed in 1829 to house practical courses in anatomy medicine and surgery. This also contained a museum of normal and pathological anatomy. After 1829 hospital physicians and surgeons were selected from the faculty’s professors and newly appointed agrégés.
Between 1833 and 1836 the faculty integrated into the hospital’s main building. The faculty was given two 36-bed wards for clinical teaching. This led to the creation of a chair in external clinical medicine and operative medicine in 1835. Numerous other chairs were established between 1837 and 1855 expanding the faculty’s reach. A military medical service school was also established in 1855. This was later incorporated into the faculty. Alphonse Laveran who later won the Nobel Prize was trained here.
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 brought an abrupt end to the faculty’s operations. After the war Strasbourg became German. The faculty was moved to Nancy. The building became property of the city and the Kaiser-Wilhelm University founded a new medical faculty. The German authorities implemented new laws expanding the university’s control over the city’s clinical services.
Following World War I the faculty once again became French. Professor Georges Weiss led its reconstruction. He made use of the well developed German facilities. He attracted renowned teachers and enhanced the faculty’s reputation. The postwar period witnessed further developments and significant building projects.
The Facultés de Médecine de Strasbourg’s legacy is more than bricks and mortar. It’s a legacy of innovation and resilience a story etched in the lives of its students and teachers. A history both triumphant and tragic a history you can feel in the very stones under your feet.