In Memoriam

Prof.(em.) Dr. med. habil. Hans–Günther Niebeling

On 19 June 2010, Prof. (em.) Dr. med. habil. Hans-Günther Niebeling died at the age of 87 years after a lengthy illness.

Hans-Günther Niebeling was born on the 19^th of December 1923 in Dresden, Germany, where he also attended school from 1929 to 1942. In 1942, he passed the Abitur (German school leaving certificate). A few days later, he became a soldier in the German Wehrmacht. He was injured in Russia in 1943 and required a rather long time for treatment and recovery. Through this, he became a member of the Studentenzug (students unit of the Wehrmacht) at the St. Georg Hospital in Leipzig, Germany, which was headed by Prof. Dr. Carlo Seyfarth. He was able to start his medical studies in summer of 1943. In spring of 1945, he was imprisoned by the Russians. Niebeling lost his parents early. His mother was the last victim of a bomb attack on Dresden on the 7^th May 1945.

After having been released from prison at the end of 1945, he was able to continue his medical studies in Leipzig. In 1950, he passed the medical exam and got the license to practise medicine as a physician. He obtained his doctorate and wrote a thesis with the topic “Klinisch-histologische Betrachtungen über das solitäre zentrale Neurinom” [Clinical-histological examinations on the single central neurinoma] in 1951. In August 1950, he became an assistant at the neurological clinic of the University of Leipzig. The director of this clinic was the renowned neuroanatomist Prof. Dr. Richard Arwed Pfeifer, who in the year before brought Georg Merrem to Leipzig with the aim to establish a neurosurgical clinic. Already in December 1950, Niebeling became Merrem's first neurosurgical resident. Together they established the first neurosurgical clinic of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR).

In 1956, Niebeling became a certified neurosurgeon and in 1958 he was appointed assistant medical director. He had a special interest in neuro-electro-diagnostic procedures, especially in EEG. Therefore, it was not surprising that he habilitated in 1961 in this field; the topic of his thesis was “Die Leistungsfähigkeit der Elektroenzephalographie bei der Diagnostik raumbeengender Prozesse unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der neurologisch-neurochirurgischen Untersuchungsmethoden” [The efficiency of the electroencephalography in diagnosis of space-occupying lesions with special consideration of neurological-neurosurgical examination methods]. For the development and production of his own EEG device he was granted the Rudolf Virchow Award in 1964. Soon after his book “Einführung in die Elektroenzephalographie“ [Introduction to Electroencephalography] was published. It was the first German textbook on this topic and became a standard work. He refused to become a member of any political party and therefore his academic career did not flourish. It was only in 1969 that he received his first professorship, a non-chair position. In 1970 he was awarded the Hans Berger Medal for his merits in the field of electroencephalography. When Professor Merrem died in 1971, Niebeling was appointed provisional director and in 1975 he became the director of the neurosurgical clinic of the university. It was only in 1976 that he was appointed full professor. In the same year, he was awarded the badge of honour by the GDR Society of Clinical Medicine. Professor Niebeling was awarded the title “Obermedizinalrat” [meritorious physician] in 1984 and finished his professional activity in 1987. He was the author of 90 publications and 7 monographs and gave more than 400 lectures in Germany and abroad.

Niebeling was co-founder of the Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie [Society of Neurosurgery] in the GDR and from the time of its founding until he became an emeritus professor he was its president or a board member. He was highly renowned also in foreign countries. The Chilean Society of Neurosurgery awarded him honorary membership in 1972. At the same time he became a corresponding member of the Chilean Society of Electroencephalography and Neurophysiology. He received special acknowledgement from The National Brain Research Foundation (New York) for his outstanding work in the field of neurosurgery.

During his carrier, Niebeling was always concerned about protecting and passing on Georg Merrem's heritage. Very often this was a hard task due to the political situation. However, he constantly tried to find his way forward and was strongly determined to reach his goals. His excellent organisational talent was of importance in this context.

With Niebeling, the German neurosurgery has lost a pioneer of its field. He has achieved much for his clinic and his employees during difficult times. This article's author lost a good and sincere friend.

J. Skrzypczak, Leipzig