Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine

Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin) (BNITM) in Hamburg is Germany's largest institution for tropical medicine, with a workforce of about 250 people in Hamburg. It is member of the Leibniz-Association. History The cholera epidemic of the year 1892 claimed thousands of lives and prompted the Senate and Parliament of the City of Hamburg to reform the health care system. The Tropical Medicine Institute was founded with the support of the Imperial Government to research ship and tropical diseases and to train ship and colonial physicians. In 1893, the naval physician was introduced to the newly created position of port physician. For the medical care of seamen suffering from internal diseases, he was also given a department in the St. Georg General Hospital. Contrary to the plans of the bacteriologist Robert Koch, Nocht established Hamburg in 1899 as the location for an institute for the research of tropical diseases, since "due to overseas traffic there are many people with treatment needs at this point". On 1 October 1900 the "Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases" with 24 employees was opened in the former administration building of the naval hospital at Hamburg's Landungsbrücken. Since 2006, the inpatient care has taken place at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Building Between 1910 and 1914, the three-part clinker building with laboratory wing, hospital and animal house was built according to plans by Fritz Schumacher. The building wing is located in the St. Pauli district between Bernhard Nocht Street on the high north side and the slope of leading down to the harbor shore. After 1945 the building, damaged by bombs, was re-built. From 2003 a new wing was built on the site of the former animal house, which was put into operation at the end of January 2008. In particular, the high-security laboratories were completely redesigned and have since then been among the safest in the world (biosafety level 4). The numerous decorative reliefs on the façade of the old building were created by the artist . The buildings of the Regional Centre of the German Weather Service and the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency are located in the course of the road to the east. Research The institute is divided into three research sections: the Molecular Biology and Immunology Division, the Clinical Research Division and the Epidemiology and Diagnostics Division.