History of the Langenbeck Virchow House
 

The Langenbeck Virchow House in Luisenstraße 58/59, Central Berlin (1915); owned by the German Surgical Society and the Berlin Medical Association
1910    Building Site
The building site in Luisenstraße 58/59 is acquired by the Berlin Medical Association (BMG) in 1910 for 603,000 Marks.
In 1913, BMG and German Surgical Society (DGCH) form an unlimited partnership (LVR GbR) to build and administer the Langenbeck Virchow House.
 

1914    Topping out ceremony
The site is cleared for construction in February and March 1914, and the topping out ceremony takes place on July 14th, 1914 - a magnificent achievement.

1915    Completion
The building is opened on August 1st, 1915 by the two directors of the LVH GbR, von Trendelenburg (DGCH) and Landau (BMG), in a simple inauguration ceremony.
The Berlin Medical Association meets for the first time under Orth on October 15th, 1915.

1920    Official opening
It is only after the war, on April 7th, 1920, that the German Surgical Society holds an official opening ceremony on the occasion of its 44th Congress, with August Bier, then President of the Association.
   
1915-1945    Meeting place
Between 1915 and 1943, DGCH members convene for their yearly conferences.
The BMG holds its scientific meetings here until January 1945.

1945-1949    Occupation
After the end of the war, the building is occupied by the Soviet military authority until November 1949. During this period all the costly internal fittings are plundered, including pictures and furniture as well as the extensive library.

1949    GDR Constituted
The government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) forces the German Surgical Society and the Berlin Medical Association to lease the Langenbeck Virchow House to the government of the GDR for an initial period of five years.
The Parliament of the GDR, the “People’s Chamber”, is constituted in the auditorium and convenes in the Great Hall until 1976.

The large auditorium in the Langenbeck Virchow House

 
   
1953    Expropriation
Because the building has been claimed in accordance with the reconstruction ruling of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the property is registered in the Land Registry as “property of the people”. This is done without the consent of the Lord Mayor of Berlin.
The first President of the German Democratic Republic, (GDR) W. Pieck, is elected in the Great Hall of the Langenbeck Virchow House.

1955    People’s Army
On January 18th, 1955, the mustering of the National People’s Army of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) is proclaimed in this building by the representatives of the first “Workers’ and Farmers’ State” in Germany.

1963    Compensation
As late as May 1963, indemnifying payment to the original owners of the building is rejected.

Plaque commemorating the election of the first President of the German Democratic Republic, W. Pieck
   
1983    Discovery
Thanks to a lucky coincidence, portrait busts that originally stood in the Langenbeck Virchow House
are discovered on February 6th, during conversion works in the ground floor of the Charité (surgery).

1989-1990    Chance
The collapse of Communism in East Germany in 1989 seems to offer a chance that the property will be returned to the original owners.

1993    Prospects
In January 1993 the Senate for Cultural Affairs in Berlin offers the prospect of returning the property in the near future.

1994    Rejection
Unexpectedly, both the office responsible for ruling on unresolved property questions and the appeals office reject the claim for restitution, reasoning that with the expropriation of the building in accordance with the reconstruction ruling of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the site had become people’s property.

1995    Negotiations
The Senate of Berlin offers joint use with the Charité, to whom the use of the building has been transferred. After lengthy negotiations, the “overall coordinator” for the Charité states that there can be no question of selling back to the original owners in the medium term “because of our own extremely pressing requirements”.

Map of the discovery site of the portrait busts on the ground floor of the Charité (Surgery), 1983
   
2000    Back on site
In expectation that restitution will be approved, the Professional Association of German Surgeons formally rents offices in order to protect the interests of the owners. The DGCH returns from Munich to the Langenbeck Virchow House.

2003    Restitution
Success - after 10 years of legal conflict that often appeared doomed to failure, the building is won back through a judgement of the Berlin administrative court and restored to the German Surgical Society and the Berlin Medical Association in 2003.

2004    Sponsoring
As a company within the B. Braun Group, Aesculap concludes a long term co-operation agreement with the Langenbeck Virchow House GbR, allowing extensive renovation work to be carried out.
At the same time it is created a domicile of the Aesculap Academy as a center of knowledge and dialogue.

View of the facade in 2000
   
2004-2005    Restoration and Opening
Nine months of planning and awarding contracts follow in order to restore and expand the Langenbeck Virchow House. Building starts in August 2004. The topping out ceremony is held on March 9th; the building is handed over to its owners on August 31st.
On October 1st 2005, the German Surgery Association and the Berlin Medical Association opened the newly restored Langenbeck-Virchow House in Central Berlin in a formal ceremony. The building, which was first inaugurated in 1915, is now once again available to professional associations as a centre for medicine.
 
"There is nothing more important for a social or professional community than to stand firm, and where does it stand more firmly than on its own ground, committed to free self-determination?"
 
Ernst von Bergmann’s words, spoken on the inauguration of the old Langenbeck House in Ziegelstraße in1892, remain true to the present day.

Unveiling of the Langenbeck Virchow House on its official opening, October 1st, 2005
   
Following the recommencement of the activities of doctors and medical associations in the Langenbeck Virchow Haus, the wish of August Bier expressed at its official opening in 1920, after the first world war, should be repeated:
 
"May von Langenbeck’s spirit also occupy this house. That is the spirit of true science, consummate medical skill, faithful fulfilment of duty, nobility, honesty, modesty and philanthropy".
 
Source: Hans-Jürgen Peiper. Das Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus - im Spiegel der Geschichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Chirurgie, Einhorn-Presse Verlag, 20012