Overview of the history of the Institute
At the beginning of the 1990s, on the initiative of the then Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the historian Stefan Wulf was entrusted with the reappraisal of the history of the Tropical Institute after the First World War until the end of the Second World War. In 1994, Stefan Wulf published the study "Das Hamburger Tropeninstitut 1919-1945: Kulturpolitik und Kolonialrevisionismus nach Versailles" (Dietrich Reimer Verlag).
In connection with the current debate on the reappraisal of German colonial history, in particular Hamburg's colonial legacy, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine has continued the research into its history and commissioned the Research Centre for Contemporary History in Hamburg to compile an expert report on the person of the first director Bernhard Nocht.
The "Institute for Ship and Tropical Diseases" began its work on 1 October 1900, with 24 employees. Today, more than 400 staff work at the "Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine" (BNITM), making it Germany's largest institution for research, care and teaching in the field of tropical diseases and emerging infectious diseases.
Origins in colonial times
Like all tropical institutes founded around 1900, the BNITM has its roots in the colonial era. In the course of the colonial conquest and exploitation of countries and territories in the so called Global South, ship crews and travellers increasingly brought unusual infectious diseases to Germany via the port of Hamburg. The founding purpose was therefore the research and control of tropical pathogens.
The cholera epidemic of 1892 in Hamburg provided the final impetus: about 9,000 people had died of the disease. The economic damage was also immense. Russian sailors or emigrants in transit had probably brought the bacterium with them. Because of the outdated drinking water system, it was able to spread quickly. The city of Hamburg was forced to restructure its health system and appointed Bernhard Nocht as harbour doctor. A little later, the city's parliament decided to "restructure the Seamen's Hospital and combine it with an Institute for Ship and Tropical Diseases".
History of the Institute
The new port doctor realised the urgent need for further training for doctors in dealing with tropical diseases. According to the principle of "research, cure, teach", the institute made research and teaching in the field of ship and tropical medicine its task in addition to patient care. After the experience of the cholera epidemic, similar outbreaks were to be prevented in the future. Hamburg's merchants also had an economic interest in the development of tropical medicine. They implemented new findings on the prevention of malaria and other diseases on their ships so that the crews remained healthy and efficient. The institute offered numerous continuing education courses for doctors in the early years and counted more than 800 participants by 1914. Research focused on laboratory studies of exotic pathogens and their vector insects. In addition, the institute conducted studies on travellers and seafarers with imported infections. Research visits to the tropics took place only very sporadically.
With the beginning of the war in 1914, the building was converted into a reserve hospital and research work largely came to a standstill. During the world wars, the institute endeavoured to maintain or regain access to the tropics in the German colonial territories: During the Weimar Republic, the economic and global political conditions on which the existence of the Tropical Institute was based had changed fundamentally. After the peace treaty of Versailles, the German Reich no longer possessed any colonies. German scientists were internationally isolated. The Tropical Institute no longer had a raison d'être. Its continued existence was uncertain.
Under National Socialism, several Jewish employees were forced by the Nazis to leave the Institute. There is evidence of drug trials on the inmates of the Langenhorn sanatorium and nursing home and the testing of new cures on prisoners suffering from typhus in the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg. The institute building was severely damaged during the nights of bombing in Hamburg.
Shortly after the end of the war, Bernhard Nocht and his wife took their own lives. In a farewell letter to their children, they wrote that they did not feel up to the task of reconstruction.
Reconstruction and reorientation
With the liberation by the Allies in 1945, a phase of reorientation began at the Bernhard Nocht Institute. The directors of the Institute cultivated international contacts and endeavoured intensively to establish the first research collaborations with South America, Asia and Africa. In 1968, the Institute established its first research station in Liberia, West Africa, and a few years later took over the management of the clinical laboratory of the Albert Swiss Hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon. With the founding of the Department of Virology in the 1950s, the Institute received one of the first electron microscopes in Germany and acquired the corresponding expertise. As a result, it was also able to significantly support the establishment of electron microscopy at the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro.
However, following an external assessment in 1986, the German Council of Science and Humanities determined that the BNI did not fulfil the expectations of a modern non-university research institution. Tropical medicine had failed to utilise new disciplines such as immunology or molecular biology for its research.
This was to change in the 1990s. The institute received modern laboratories, was able to attract young international scientists and developed modern research concepts. It also succeeded in establishing research cooperation with various countries. For example, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) was opened in Ghana in 1998. It is run in partnership by BNITM, the University of Kumasi and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Ghana. These projects directly contribute to building research infrastructures in Africa.
Research for Global Health
Today, the BNITM is one of the world's leading institutions in the field of tropical and emerging infections. The institute conducts state-of-the-art laboratory research and uses the latest methods in immunology, molecular and cell biology. As a founding member of the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), the BNITM maintains laboratories on the DESY campus in Hamburg Bahrenfeld. The scientists have access to the unique imaging techniques used for the latest research results in virology and parasitology. In addition to research in the laboratory, the BNITM carries out extensive research projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In cooperation with partner countries, BNITM conducts research on the epidemiology, therapy and control of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as malaria, worm infections or haemorrhagic fevers, among other things.
Historical background
In the late 19th century, the port of Hamburg develops into a hub for the German colonial goods trade - and previously unknown pathogens. The cholera epidemic of 1892, the last in Europe, provides the final impetus: the Senate and citizens accelerate the construction of a new sewage system and reform the healthcare system. They also create the office of harbour doctor and appoint the naval surgeon Bernhard Nocht.
Founding
Contrary to Robert Koch's plans, Bernhard Nocht pushes through Hamburg as the location for an institute for research into tropical diseases, as ‘the overseas trade means there is a wealth of “sick people” to care for’. Following a decision by the Hamburg Parliament, the ‘Institute for Ship and Tropical Diseases’ begins its work on 1 October 1900, with 24 employees and Bernhard Nocht as its first director.
Building
During its first years, the institute is housed in the former administration building of the Seamen's Hospital at the Hamburg Landungsbrücken. From the outset, it is dedicated to research, teaching and treatment of tropical diseases. Seafarers suffering from malaria account for about 40 percent of the patients at that time. Improving malaria therapy is therefore one of the main focuses of the research work.
First training courses
The first training courses for ship and navy doctors take place at the Institute.
Diplomkursus gestern
In den ersten Jahrzehnten zielt die Arbeit des Instituts vor allem auf die Gesunderhaltung von Schiffsbesatzungen, Kolonialtruppen und eigener Bevölkerung.
Diplomkursus heute
Heute geht es dem Institut in erster Linie um die Gesundheit von einheimischen Bevölkerungen in Ländern mit armutsbedingten und tropentypischen Erkrankungen, Reise- und Migrationsmedizin, Globale Gesundheit und Pandemievorsorge.
Inauguration of the Fritz-Schumacher-Building
In 1910, the renowned Hamburg architect Fritz Schumacher was commissioned to plan a new building for the institute, which had grown considerably in the meantime. It was inaugurated on 28 May 1914.
When the First World War broke out, almost all of the institute's staff were drafted in. The clinical department was used as a reserve military hospital.
August 1921
A strained financial situation threatens the existence of the Institute. Hamburg businessmen and prominent people found the "Association of Friends of the Hamburg Tropical Institute" with the aim of supporting the Institute financially and politically.
New Director
The Bernhard Nocht era comes to an end. His office is taken over by Friedrich Fülleborn (1866-1933).
Renamed
On the occasion of Bernhard Nocht's 85th birthday, the Institute is renamed the "Bernhard Nocht Institute for Ship and Tropical Diseases".
In the last years of the war, the Institute is increasingly used as a Wehrmacht hospital and is severely destroyed by bomb
05.06.1945
Death of Bernhard Nocht in Wiesbaden.
![[Translate to English:] Seitliches Portrait von Bernhard Nocht vorm Mikroskop](/fileadmin/_processed_/e/c/csm_Bernhard_Nocht_8040f00b48.jpg "Bernhard Nocht")
Research site
Helminthologist Hans Vogel clarifies the reproduction cycle of the fox tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis) and is able to distinguish it as an independent species from the dog tapeworm. E.G. Nauck, H. Vogel and H.-H. Schumacher undertake an exploratory trip to Sudan and Cameroon to find a location for a research station.
Research station in Ghana
The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the Republic of Ghana agree in the form of a state treaty on the establishment of a cooperative research station in Ghana with the support of the Volkswagen Foundation. The local partner of the Bernhard Nocht Institute is the University of Kumasi. The ceremonial opening of the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) takes place in Ghana on 19 February 1998.
National Reference Centre for Tropical Infectious Agents
The Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine is appointed National Reference Centre for Tropical Infectious Agents by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security.
![[Translate to English:] LOGO NRZ Blaue Weltkugel mit Symbolen in Weiß. Dazu die Bezeichnung des Zentrums in schwarzer Schrift rundherum: Nationales Referenzzentrum für tropische Infektionserreger](/fileadmin/_processed_/e/5/csm_NRZ_Logo_16x9_d7289c46ae.png){kind=logo}
Architectural competition for new building
In March, the official jury decision is made in the architectural competition for the new building of the Tropical Institute: out of 65 applicants, the group led by the Cologne architects Kister - Scheitauer - Gross wins the race.
Laying of the foundation stone for the new building
The demolition of the old animal house in February marks the start of construction of the new extension building, the foundation stone of which is laid in July in the presence of the Federal Minister of Health, Ulla Schmidt, the Mayor of Hamburg, Ole von Beust, and architect Prof. Susanne Gross.
Cooperation agreement with the Bundeswehr
In October, the German Armed Forces and the Bernhard Nocht Institute sign a contract on cooperation in outpatient and clinical tropical medicine.
Federal Order of Merit
In December, Federal Minister of Health Ulla Schmidt awards the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to the pathologists Prof. Dr. Paul Racz and Dr. Klara Tenner-Racz for their scientific life's work, and to the virologists Dr. Stephan Günther and Dr. Christian Drosten for identifying the SARS coronavirus.
Anniversary in Ghana
The Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine in Ghana (KCCR) celebrates its 10th anniversary.
New building
In July, the ceremonial inauguration of the extension building takes place with Federal Minister of Health Ulla Schmidt and Hamburg's First Mayor Ole von Beust. Immunology and virology research groups move into the new laboratories.
Cooperation with Altona Diagnostic Technologies GmbH
Altona Diagnostic Technologies GmbH and the BNITM establish a public-private partnership. Easy-to-use tests are to be developed from the Institute's numerous diagnostic procedures and offered for sale worldwide. The "Tropical Diagnostics" project is being funded for four years with over 4.5 million euros by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the City of Hamburg.
Research successes in cooperation with the KCCR
Together with colleagues from the University of Kumasi, Ghana, and the University Hospitals of Lübeck and Kiel, Prof. Rolf Horstmann's group has succeeded in the first successful genome-wide search for mutations that protect against fatal courses of malaria. To this end, they examined thousands of young children at the KCCR in Ghana - the decisive basis for the success of the study.
Hamburg region becomes DZIF site
With its focus on "Global and Emerging Infections", the Hamburg region will become the location of the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), which is funded by the BMBF, in April. The BNI coordinates partners from the University of Hamburg, the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the University of Lübeck and the Leibniz Institutes Heinrich Pette Institute - Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology and Research Center Borstel.
![[Translate to English:] Logo des DZIF: Der in blau gehaltene Schriftzug DZIF wird links oben von einem grauen Ring, der durch das D geht, mit einem blauen Punkt verziert. Darunter in kleinerer Schrift, ebenfalls in blau German Center for Infection Research](/fileadmin/_processed_/d/a/csm_dzif_289f307504.png "Logo Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF)")
Another award for the Virology Department
At the end of the year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) appoints the Department of Virology as WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Haemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research for the third time in a row.
New Institute logo
The acronym BNI is lengthened to BNITM to avoid confusion with the term Bureau of National Investigation, which is abbreviated BNI and refers to the secret service in Ghana. The new acronym will be incorporated into the Institute's logo in large letters.
Research in Madagascar
Extension of the scientific cooperation agreement with the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar, which has been in place since 2008, and inauguration of a health station in the Madagascan highlands.
New working groups at the institute
Dr Ellis Owusu-Dabo becomes head of a BNITM working group at the KCCR in Ghana, which is to investigate the special features of non-communicable diseases, so-called diseases of civilisation, in the tropics. Dr Tobias Spielmann is founding a working group dedicated to the cell biology of malaria parasites, and Priv.-Doz. Dr Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit will investigate viruses transmitted by mosquitoes or other arthropods, so-called arboviruses, with his new working group.
High-security laboratory put into operation
The new high-security laboratory (Biosafety Level 4, BSL-4-Laboratory) starts operation. The Virology Department begins a one-year test phase before genetically modified viruses of the highest biological risk group can be examined at the Institute.
Evaluation by the Leibniz Association successfully completed
In its final statement, the Senate of the Leibniz Association emphasises that the interplay of laboratory research, patient-oriented research and population-based research at the Institute has proven its worth. Since the last evaluation in 2010, the BNITM has successfully further developed its overall concept and will continue to be funded by the federal and state governments for the next seven years.
Virus research again honoured by WHO
The Department of Virology is named WHO Collaborating Centre for Arbovirus and Haemorrhagic Fever Reference and Research for the fourth time in a row.
Opening of the CSSB
On 29 June 2017, the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) officially opens on the premises of the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY). The BNITM is represented by the Department of Cellular Parasitology headed by Prof. Tim Gilberger.
20 years of KCCR
The 20th anniversary celebrations of the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) are attended by the Chancellor of Kumasi University, BNITM board members, the German Ambassador to Ghana, high representatives of the Ghanaian government and the King of Ashanti, among others.
50th anniversary of the discovery of the Marburg virus
With a scientific symposium, the Institute honours the work of Prof. Werner Slenczka (University of Marburg) and Dr Günther Müller (former BNITM staff), who identified the Marburg virus in 1967, nine years before the discovery of the closely related Ebola virus.
EU Commissioner visits EMLab
Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, learns about the workings of a European Mobile Laboratory (EMLab), which is demonstrated by a BNITM staff member. He is accompanied by Science Minister Katharina Fegebank and numerous members of the press.
Establishing mobile laboratory diagnostics in East Africa
In order to detect cross-border epidemics at an early stage, the Institute is overseeing the acquisition and commissioning of a total of nine mobile laboratories in six East African countries, as well as the training of the relevant laboratory personnel.
New Implementation section
From January, the BNITM will be setting up the new research area "Implementation Research". This research area at the BNITM is dedicated to the question of how infectious diseases can best be combated using the findings from basic research, even under the most difficult conditions.
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
The first person infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Germany becomes known. The Hamburg authorities ask the BNITM for rapid SARS-CoV-2 virus diagnostics. At the same time, a press storm begins and leads to extensive public relations work by experts from the medical profession, virology and epidemiology at the BNITM.
120th anniversary
The institute is celebrating its 120th anniversary without a public ceremony due to the spread of the SARS coronavirus and the associated restrictions.
(Ex) employees found start-up "Panadea Diagnostics"
Researchers at the BNITM have developed and patented a special technology for antibody detection, which will be marketed by a specially founded company, Panadea Diagnostic GmbH, from April. The Executive Board of the BNITM and Panadea Diagnostics GmbH sign a corresponding licence and cooperation agreement.
Institute to be modernised
The institute building, built in 1914, is getting on in years. The old institute building is to be extensively renovated from 2025/2026 and combined with a new research building. A memorandum of understanding is signed to this end.
Evaluation by the Leibniz Association
In the second half of 2023, the Leibniz Association will once again carry out the extensive seven-year evaluation of the institute, which will be concluded with a visit by a group of experts in November.
Another surge in growth
The Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) is putting its research on a comprehensive digital footing: from 2025, it will establish the ‘Computational Sciences for Pathogen Research and One Health’ centre. It will incorporate all research sections and be equipped with two professorships. The green light for financing by the Leibniz Association had previously been given by the Joint Science Conference of the Federal Government and the Länder. The BNITM had only recently set up a new section called ‘Implementation Research’.
Successful evaluation
Top marks for the work of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM): the institute has received an outstanding evaluation from the Leibniz Association. At its meeting, the Senate recommends that the federal and state governments continue to fund the institute for seven years.
