Facing the future from the perspective of historical awareness. Some reflections on the development of the subject legal medicine at the University of Freiburg

摘要

abstract_textpThe University of Freiburg was founded by Arch Duke Albrecht VI in 1457, i.e. 555 years ago and 50 years ago the Freiburg Institute of Legal Medicine moved into its own building. These two anniversaries and the fact that the 91st Annual Meeting of the German Society of Legal Medicine will be held here in 2012 is a good opportunity to briefly outline the history of the University and the development of legal medicine in Freiburg. Awareness of the historical roots is essential for our self-concept. This does not only apply to society as a whole but also to an academic discipline. The content and position of every medical specialty has to be redefined at regular intervals to meet current requirements and enable the respective field to successfully compete for human and financial resources also in the future. To firmly keep legal medicine among the core subjects of a top university in the twenty-first century it is indispensable to sharpen its scientific profile without neglecting practical forensic work and the teaching of students. Points of primary importance for securing the future are: consistently promoting young scientists, developing interdisciplinary networks with strong research partners, increasing the number of publications and raising more third party funding as well as intensifying international collaboration./p/abstract_text