Berlin, leading science- based health town in Germany

Berlin has a long medical tradition. Personalities like Rudolph Virchow, Emil von Behring, Robert Koch and Paul Ehrlich as well as other important researchers were at their times part of the leading doctors and scientists in Europe and have written medicine history. They founded the reputation of Berlin as an international centre of medical theory and research, of medical technology, health care providers and the pharmaceutical industry.

The reputation of Berlin as a health care centre is strongly connected with a lot of hospitals. One of the institutions with which Berlin has gained its good reputation is the Charite'. The Charite' was founded in 1710 - 100 years ealier than the Berlin University from 1810. Important Berlin doctors and scientists have stamped here the image of modern medicine. Among them are, next to the above - mentioned, a few more famous names like Johannes Müller, Emil Du Bois-Reymond, Hermann von Helmholtz, Christoph Hufeland, Albrecht von Graefe and Ferdinand Sauerbruch. 14 Nobel laureates have strong relationships to Berlin medicine in the area of clinical medicine, physiology and chemistry. Those who deserve special mention are Emil von Behring, nobel prize 1901, Robert Koch, nobel prize 1905, and Paul Ehrlich, 1908.

Today Berlin is the leading scientific health region in Germany. Exemplary is the record of the German heart centre, which belongs to the 8 most renowned transplantation centres in the world and which has, with the "artificial heart", the worldwide biggest experience with this system. Prominent are further on the Max Delbrück Centre for molecular medicine in Berlin-Buch and the Charite' university medicine Berlin.

The casuality hospital in Berlin-Marzahn is the first almost fully digitalised hospital in Germany. One of the world's first laser clinics is in the Neukölln Vivantes hospital. The first clinic in Germany specialised on minimal invasive surgery was founded in 1997 in the evangelical hospital Hubertus Berlin.

Today Berlin is on the way to becoming the leading place of medicine technology in Germany. The whole medicine technology branch is one of Germany´s most innovative branches of industry. It realises nearly 25 percent of its sales with products that are younger than 2 years. Leading world-wide in the area of products for the electrotherapy of hearts and vascular intervention is the Berlin Biotronik GmbH, whose founder, Prof. Dr. Max Schmalbach, developed the first German heart pacemaker 40 years ago.

Special mention deserves further on the Vanguard AG. Since ist foundation in 1988, Vanguard has gained a leading position in technology and has become Europe's biggest service supplier in reprocessing and supply with medicine products as well as innovative medicine technology (nowadays about 800 employees).

The Berlin Heart AG is a leading supplier in the area of development, production and marketing of extra corporal and implantable heart support system technology. With its implantable heart pump the company, which cooperates with the German heart centre, goes new ways in treating difficult heart diseases.

World market leader in the area of development and production of weak radioactive rays for therapeutical purposes and measuring techniques is the Eckert & Ziegler AG in Berlin. The products of this company are used for cancer treatments and cardiopathy.

So Berlin has acquired great system competence in health sciences and health economy; at one place you have all medical achievements at a top level and a lot of product and process innovations are developed in close cooperation with science and economy.

Moreover, the most important decisions on German health politicy are made in Berlin because it is the seat of the federal government. All important health policy and medical associations are situated in Berlin. At a lot of events the important players in the health care system meet, and there is a narrow network between the different actors in the health area.

Besides Berlin is a leading exhibition and congress place for medical health questions. Important institutions are the "Innovation Congress", the "Medicine Supply Congress" and the yearly "Capital Congress Medicine and Health", which is visited by 5000 professional experts from the fields of health care management, medicine and care as well as politics, economy and professional associations.

The organization of a progressive network between health care science and health care economy, biotechnology and medicine technology is in the focus of further developments in Berlin. Main emphasis is e.g. on the clinical research organisation, CRO, the picture-giving procedure (magnet resonance imaging/ molecular diagnostic procedure) and the development of a modern IT landscape for an efficient clinic (digital hospital).

Another sphere of activity is the construction and extension of life sciences in Berlin. The Charite' university medicine sees itself as the nucleus of life sciences in the region of Berlin-Brandenburg and with this lighthouse project wants to realize the idea of a network of clinical and scientific academic work combined with the interests of economy. But in the foreground is the interdisciplinary research in medicine and life sciences. The project encloses: clinical medicine and basic research, physiology, biology, chemisty, pharmacy, medicine technology, but also philosophy and theology. Life sciences are in an exemplary way interdisciplinary and a leading project for a human knowledge society. Furthermore there will be built up a centre for innovative health care technology around Prof. Dr. Klaus- Dirk Henke with the goal, to build up a competence platform for health care technology.

Economically, the health care market has the biggest growth potential. Strong efforts in biological and medical research keep leading to new products and services in biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry and in medicine technology. Against this background the Land Berlin has made the decision to support Berlin, the city of health care, to organize and manage medicine and health care economy in Berlin in a sustainable way.