Die Marineärztliche Akademie 1940-1945: kurzer Abriß ihrer Geschichte

Abstract

"The systematic improvements in the training of field surgeons, hospital surgeons and, finally, physicians in the Prussian Army from 1713 on found no counterpart in the German Navy. The first independent naval medical officer cadets were hired by the Reich Navy in the mid 1920s to form the Kiel-Wik Naval Hospital parent unit. When the Military Medical Academy was founded anew in Berlin in 1934, medical officer cadets were brought together from all three branches of the army. They carried out their studies in civilian dress at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, the military playing only a marginal role in their lives. As time went on, the Navy felt the need to train its medical officer cadets in a manner better befitting naval concerns, and above all to provide them with military training that corresponded more closely with other officers' careers. These aspirations, as well as the lack of space at the Military Medical Academy, led to the establishment of the Naval Medical Academy in Kiel on January 2, 1940. From the very beginning, there were conflicts between the commander on the one hand and three officers as well as the 'Berlin Crews' on the other, due to the fact that the latter had not been properly informed of the training goal as determined by the chief naval medical officer and the inspectorate of the naval educational system. The situation, which was difficult primarily on the interpersonal level, was solved in an 'elegant' manner by the transfer of the academy to Tübingen. Following the studies required of them by the qualification regulations and the relatively small amount of time occupied with military service, the cadets had ample opportunity to pursue their artistic, cultural and sports interests or even a second course of study. The studies comprised no political activities or indoctrination efforts. The dissolution of the academy in 1944-45 was carried out in a relatively disorderly fashion and in a manner little suited to the purposes of the various crews. The success later enjoyed by the former cadets as physicians and university professors as well as in non-medical professions nevertheless testified to the fact that both their selection and their training had provided excellent foundations for their post-war careers." (author's abstract)