[The history of anesthesia at the Heidelberg University]

An account is given on the development of general anaesthesia at the university clinics of Heidelberg. During the last century mainly chloroform was employed for general anaesthesia. Important events were the first demonstration of Koller's local anaesthesia in the eye in 1884, the first intubation for anaesthesia in Heidelberg, performed by F. Kuhn of Kassel and the development by M. Neu of a rotameter apparatus for nitrous oxide/oxygen anaesthesia in 1910. From 1932 on the surgeon M. Kirschner advanced the methods of high pressure infiltration for regional anaesthesia and segmental hypobaric spinal anaesthesia. In 1951 K. H. Bauer requested R. Frey to set up an "anaesthesia squad" consisting of 2 physicians and 3 nurses to become the nucleus of today's Institute of Anaesthesiology, with O. H. Just as its first professor and chairman.