![[Translate to English:] Portrait Johann Adam Kersting](/fileadmin/_processed_/6/6/csm_Kersting_sw_5050e2c21c.jpg)
© Carl Thies Nachf. (1928)
Anatomy is a basic discipline of veterinary medicine. It was already taught in the early days of the veterinary school at Clevertor. Students at the time were taught by the co-founder and first director of the former Rossarzney School, Johann Adam Kersting.
![[Translate to English:] Alte Fotografie Gartenseite des Anatomischen und Pathologischen Instituts](/fileadmin/_processed_/e/b/csm_Anatomie_historisch1_f55800122a.jpg)
© Carl Thies Nachf. (1928)
In October 1886 Heinrich BOETHER was called to Hanover as a lecturer for anatomy, histology and zoology. Being prepared and formed by his previous positions as assistant at the Department of Pathology at Hanover and the Departments of Anatomy, Pathology and Physiology at Berlin, he engaged himself at first in teaching. The Department of Anatomy at Hanover ows to him the foundation of its collection of specimens. Boether can also be called the founder of anatomical research at Hanover. He initiated more than 70 dissertations covering a wide range of comparative anatomical and histological studies. These comprised connective tissue and blood cells, hairs and feathers as well as different organ systems of domestic and wild mammals, birds and fish. At the end of September 1924 Heinrich Boether resigned from his position.
![[Translate to English:] Alte Fotografie des Demonstrationssaals mit Wandtafeln](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/b/csm_Geschichte__erste__Frauen_75d1982c2d.jpg)
© Carl Thies Nachf. (1928)
In 1924 Otto ZIETZSCHMANN took over the Chair of Anatomy at Hanover. He had been a student of Ellenberger, Ebner and Schaffer and he was well known for his fundamental research during his time as head of department at the university of Zurich. During the time of his directorship the department was reorganized, the collection of specimens was greatly enlarged and an extensive collection of teaching tables was created. His research was concerned predominantly with histology and embryology. It focussed on the central nervous system, epidermal organs, intestine, reproductive organs, blood vessel of the eye and topography of the blood vessels of domestic mammals. Zietzschmann founded and later on revised together with Krölling the "Textbook of the embryology of domestic animals". It was the standard textbook of veterinary embryology for many years. Equally high esteemed was the 18th and last edition of the "Ellenberger-Baum" (published in 1943) which he edited together with Eberhardt Ackerknecht and Hugo Grau. His main contribution as an author was the fundamental revision and substantial extention especially of the chapter dealing with the topographic anatomy of blood vessels. Otto Zietzschmann retired in 1948.
![[Translate to English:] Alte Fotografie des ehemaligen Präpariersaals](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/a/csm_Geschichte-Alter_Praepsaal_db7e8fd459.jpg)
© Carl Thies Nachf. (1928)
From 1948 to 1964 Richard NICKEL directed the Institute of Anatomy. He had been a lecturer ("Prosector") at the institute under the directorship of Otto Zietzschmann for many years. Influenced by the cooperation with Benninghoff (Kiel), who created the anatomy of functional systems, Nickel turned more towards morphological-functional aspects in both teaching and research. To meet the changing demands in clinics and practice, he favoured more and more teaching comparative anatomy of domestic animals and therefore included an appropriate scope of pigs and ruminants. During that time, his scientific work was concerned mainly with comparative studies on the topography of different organs and organ systems including their vascularization. During his longstanding work in the field of comparative macroscopical anatomy he gathered a thorough knowledge. It was reflected in the multivolume standard textbook "The anatomy of the domestic animals" which he edited together with August Schummer (Gießen) and Eugen Seiferle (Zurich).
![[Translate to English:] Fotografie des Anatomischen Instituts um 1970](/fileadmin/_processed_/8/9/csm_Anatomie_vor_1979_36ff14d879.jpg)
© Anatomisches Institut
In 1965 Helmut WILKENS became head of the Institute of Anatomy. As a teacher, he was able to impart broad and solid basic anatomical knowledge to the students in a manner easy to remember. So they were well prepared for their further studies and for all fields of their future profession. His scientific activities were predominantly aimed at comparative macroscopical anatomy of domestic mammals. His research was conducted often in close cooperation with clinicians. The studies focussed on one hand on the topography of the respiratory system, digesive system and on blood vessels. On the other hand it centred on radiographical studies of the skeletal system including joints.
Succeeding Richard Nickel, Helmut Wilkens became coeditor of the textbook "The anatomy of the domestic animals". He played a decisive role in preparing and completing its 3rd volume, "The circulatory system, the skin, and the cutaneous organs of the domestic mammals". Together with Horst Schebitz (formerly director of the clinic for horses at Hanover; he went to Munich later on), Helmut Wilkens prepared and published the "Atlas of radiographic anatomy of the horse" and the "Atlas of radiographic anatomy of the dog and cat".
![[Translate to English:] Fotografie des Eingangs zu den neuen Präpariersälen](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/f/csm_Praepsaaleingang_d4206077fc.jpg)
© M. Bewarder
During his directorship, divisions for "Microscopical anatomy" (1969) and for "Embryology and applied anatomy" (1972) were established. Rudolf SCHWARZ and Horst WISSDORF were appointed to direct these divisions. Within the unit of "Microscopical anatomy" studies focussed on the skin, hair coat, ovary, uterus and hypophysis. Within the unit of "Embryology and applied anatomy" research centred on practice-oriented studies on domestic-, companion-, zoo-, and laboratory animals.
A unit for "Anatomy of fowl and native game" with Klaus POHLMEYER in charge was established in 1984.
![[Translate to English:] Fotografie der Lernsammlung des Anatomischen Instituts](/fileadmin/_processed_/c/7/csm_Lehre-Sammlung1_c546364e06.jpg)
© M. Bewarder
Helmut Waibl was Director of the Institute of Anatomy from September 1992 to June 2007. He focused on the field of anatomy and continued the Institute's traditional areas of research. These included the visualization of the topography of blood vessels of parenchymal organs and, above all, the clinically applied anatomy of extremity joints of domestic animals. Here he worked closely with the Clinic and Polyclinic for Small Pets at the Free University of Berlin. He also revised selected chapters in the textbook "Anatomy of Pets". The atlases on "X-ray anatomy of the dog and cat" were also republished. As Chairman of the International Nomenclature Commission, he dedicated himself to the standardization and simplification of generally accepted anatomical terms.
In October 1996, Hagen Gasse was appointed to the newly created professorship for "Functional Anatomy". His working group initially focused mainly on endocrinology and clinical neurology. Today, his main focus is on veterinary dentistry in horses and a project to evaluate laser-assisted diagnostic and therapeutic procedures on the vocal apparatus. For the work on equine dentistry, collaborators from the Institute of Continuum Mechanics at Leibniz Universität Hannover and the Clinic for Dental Prosthetics, Propaedeutics and Materials Science at Kiel University have been recruited. The work on the vocal apparatus is part of a study at the Hannover Medical School. There is also a collaboration with the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt/Main and the Institute for Food Quality and Safety at the TiHo. He retired in July 2023.
From August 1997 to March 2009, the "Histology and Embryology" department was headed by Wilfried Meyer. His research projects were based on modern histological methods and the use of histochemical techniques (e.g. lectin and immunohistochemistry), including computer-assisted 3D reconstruction of tissues. The work on the mammalian integument has been published in veterinary textbooks (Anatomy of the Dog and Cat, Practice-oriented Anatomy of the Horse) and in textbooks on wild mammals. An SEM atlas on the hair cuticle structure of Central European wild animals was published in 2002. The importance of the skin research carried out at the Institute was also demonstrated by a project on whale skin successfully completed in 2002, which was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The cooperation with the Alfred Wegner Institute in Bremerhaven, the Technical University of Berlin, the University of Leipzig and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf made it possible to make profitable use of modern large-scale equipment. In addition to skin research on domestic and wild animals, he also worked on the structure, function and development of other organ systems (skeletal system and vascular system).
![[Translate to English:] Fotografie des Live-Cell-Imaging-Systems](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/0/csm_CellImagingSystem_a41b8ebbda.jpg)
© AG Pfarrer
Christiane Pfarrer has been Director of the Institute of Anatomy since September 2007. She represents the field of anatomy and conducts research into reproductive biology, focusing on placentation. As part of this work, she has established new laboratories for cell and molecular biology and cell culture at the Institute of Anatomy. The work of her group is supported by various sponsors such as the DFG, industry and foundations. The newly established research focus has a live cell imaging system for long-term observation of living cells and a laser microdissection system at its disposal, with which not only individual cells can be cut out for further analysis but also for further culture. There are international collaborations with the universities of Copenhagen (Denmark), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Texas A&M University (USA) as well as research institutes such as the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Jouy en Josas, France.
Since October 2009 Ralph Brehm has headed "Histology and Embryology" with the new denomination "Functional Histology and Cell Biology". The research focus of his working group is reproductive medicine. His research projects are primarily concerned with direct cell-cell communication via connexins in the testes of various species, the role of these gap junction proteins in normal spermatogenesis and the relevance of connexin43 in the pathogenesis of canine and human testicular tumors. Both functional, transgenic animal models and a broad spectrum of cell and molecular biological methods are used. The work is funded by the DFG; of particular note is the project "Effects of a Sertoli cell specific knockout of the connexin43-gene on the regulation of spermatogenesis in transgenic mice using the Cre/loxP-recombination system", which is being carried out as part of a DFG clinical research group. There are numerous collaborations with scientists from Germany and abroad.