Online lecture by Werner Hoffmann on 13 May 2025, 3 pm

Moderation: Petra Schultheiß-Reimann

Until the end of the Middle Ages, medical practice in Europe was characterised by Hippocratic-Galenic medicine and Arab influences for over 1,300 years. With the beginning of the Renaissance, Europe experienced a sudden and diverse cultural development. As a result, from around the middle of the 18th century, there was a gradual paradigm shift in medicine in Europe. From then on, life processes and diseases were explained in cellular and molecular terms. As a consequence of this new approach, enormous progress has been made in medical diagnostics and therapy, particularly in the last 180 years - and this rapid development is still continuing unabated.

The question therefore arises as to what has triggered this new dynamic and where the reasons for today's exponential progress in medicine lie. What expectations can we have for the future?