[150 years since the birth of R. Koch--his life and work]

In December 1993 150 years have elapsed since the birth of Robert Koch. Koch began his research activities already as a rural physician. Later, from 1880 he worked in the Imperial Health Institute in Berlin, from 1885 he was as professor in charge of the Institute of Hygiene of the Medical Faculty of Berlin University. Greater opportunities for research were offered to him in the Institute for Infectious Diseases in Berlin. R. Koch laid the foundations of scientific microbiology, his activities were, however, also closely linked with epidemiology. His discoveries include evidence of B. anthracis, V. cholerae and in particular M. tuberculosis (1882). He studied also the etiology of wound infections. He enriched microbiology by new cultivation, staining and microscopic techniques, by using vapour during sterilization as well as investigations of the effect of new disinfectants. A major part of his research was devoted to tropical diseases which he studied during six expeditions. Koch was not only concerned with laboratory research, he implemented also many epidemiological field projects. Many scientists who later became famous worked with him. In 1905 Koch was awarded the Nobel Prize. R. Koch died on May 27, 1910.