Clinic history

In 1984, a Neolithic skeleton of a 35- to 40-year-old man with cranial trepanation was discovered in Zillingtal, Burgenland, which, due to its dating to the Neolithic, Baden Culture (3500-2700 BC), is considered to be the oldest evidence of this neurosurgical procedure on Austrian territory.

In 1981, a child's skull with trepanation was discovered in the Traisen Valley of Lower Austria, dated to the Early Bronze Age (2020-1770 BC).

Neolithic "neurosurgeons" used stone knives and axes, but since Greek and Roman antiquity, perforating or crown trephines were used for trepanations. Medical as well as magical-therapeutic indications were considered for performing trepanation.

Trepanations on living people were forbidden by the church in the early Middle Ages and were only performed secretly by charlatans who believed they could operate out mental illness.

In the 13th to 16th centuries, cranial operations increased again, and in the 18th century, when the ban was lifted, they were performed mainly on the basis of a medical indication.

 

The history of neurosurgery at Vienna General Hospital was established in 1904 by Prof. Anton Freiherr von Eiselsberg (1860–1939), who operated on a brain tumor, a glioma. Als Erstem auf dem europäischen Kontinent gelang ihm dann 1907 die erfolgreiche Entfernung eines Rückenmarktumors. Eiselsberg, ehemaliger Assistent von Theodor Billroth, war 1901–1931 Leiter der I. Chirurgischen Universitätsklinik Wiens, wo er eine der größten medizinischen Schulen heranbildete.

Egon Josef Anton Ranzi (1875–1939) began his surgical training with Anton Eiselsberg in 1902 and succeeded his teacher in 1932. His main field of work was neurosurgery, which is reflected in his numerous pioneering publications, for example: "Surgical Anatomy and Surgical Technique of the Central Nervous System" (1920); "Surgery of the Brain and its Skins" (1929); "Surgery of the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems" (1930).

Leopold Schönbauer  (1888–1963) was director and full professor at the I Surgical University Clinic in the General Hospital from 1939-1960 and developed it into a center for neurosurgery. Schönbauer dealt intensively with brain tumors, brain edema and concussions. Thus, neurosurgery became an integral part of the Surgery Department at the Vienna General Hospital. The article "Brain Surgery: Experiences and Results", on the pathology and therapy of brain tumors, is one of the first German-language works in this field.

Otto Marburg (1874–1948) and Julius Tandler (1869–1936), Viennese luminaries in the fields of neurology and anatomy, worked intensively with the neurosurgeons of the time. Marburg not only acted as advisor at Eiselsberg's side, but also operated. He contributed significantly to the development of neurosurgery, but was an opponent of its becoming an independent specialty.

1954 - The Austrian Society for Neurosurgery was founded as the "Austrian Working Group for Neurosurgery". For outstanding merits in the field of neurosurgery, it has awarded the Herbert Kraus Medal since 1993.

1964 – While Viennese neurosurgeons were "attached" to regular Surgery Departments in the first decades of the 20th century, Neurosurgery did not become a separate specialty until 1964, when it received a chair at the University of Vienna.
An independent clinic for neurosurgery was founded by Herbert Wolfgang Kraus (1910-1975), who further developed Viennese brain surgery in the spirit of Leopold Schönbauer. Individual working groups were established, including pediatric and stereotactic neurosurgery.

1976 – The "Specialist in Neurosurgery" was created. Until this time, all physicians practicing neurosurgery were listed as general surgeons.

1977- 1978 begins the construction of a new neurosurgical department at the Vienna General Hospital, next to the Währinger Gürtel.
Under Wolfgang Koos, (1930-2000), head of the Neurosurgical University Clinic from 1978-1998, neurosurgery became an integral part of education at MedUni Vienna. On his initiative, the Department of Neurosurgery was founded in its present form and developed into one of the largest neurosurgical centers in the world.

1984 – The relocation to the newly created Vienna General Hospital as the University Hospital for Neurosurgery created new opportunities for research (research laboratories) and for the treatment of patients with minimally invasive procedures (Gamma Knife, endoscopy).

In 2002 Prof. Dr. Engelbert Knosp took over the management of the house.