The establishment of a special clinic for cattle dates back to 1 December 1925, when a professorship for obstetrics and cattle diseases was created at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover and an inpatient clinic specifically for this species was opened. Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Richard Götze was co-founder and head of the corresponding inpatient clinic specifically for cattle. He and his cattle clinic soon became a household name among scientists and veterinarians around the world. The number of inpatients rose from 190 in 1926 to 1867 in 1952, of which around two thirds were internal medicine and surgical cases and one third obstetric and gynaecological cases.
In 1953, the clinic was divided into the Clinic for Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Cattle and the Clinic of Bovine Diseases. A student and habilitation candidate of Götze, Prof. Dr. Gustav Rosenberger, took over the management of the Clinic of Bovine Diseases. The clinic's field of work included the internal and surgical diseases of cattle, diseases of young animals, metabolic and deficiency diseases, poisoning and the clinical side of parasitic and infectious diseases. The training of many generations of distinguished cattle veterinarians in these areas represents the clinic's very special achievement. In addition, the scientists at the cattle clinic have gained an international reputation for the eradication of particular scourges of cattle breeding in Europe, namely enzootic leucosis.
The Clinic for Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Cattle was headed by Prof. Erich Aehnelt following the retirement of Prof. Götze. In addition to lectures on animal obstetrics, special gynaecology and udder diseases, research focused on infertility and herd sterility.
In the sixties, seventies and eighties of the last century, the history of these two clinics in the service of cattle was closely linked to the diverse research work of Professors Dirksen, Stöber and Grunert. Their work was associated with milestones in cattle medicine, such as the publication of standard works like "Diseases of Cattle", "The Clinical Examination of Cattle" and "Fertility Disorders in Female Cattle".
After the macroeconomically important infectious diseases of cattle such as foot and mouth disease, brucellosis, leucosis, tuberculosis, mange and botflies had largely disappeared, not least due to a variety of projects at the Cattle Clinic, non-infectious diseases increasingly became the focus of attention. Staff at the cattle clinic made a special contribution to the development of surgical procedures for the intervention of abomasal displacement and the treatment of pasture tetany. During the nineties of the last century, the diagnosis of selenium deficiencies was finally expanded under Prof. Scholz and important clinical diseases resulting from selenium deficiency were characterised.
It was not until 2002 that the Clinic for Bovine Diseases and the Clinic for Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Cattle were reunited to form today's Clinic for Cattle. Under the direction of Prof. Bollwein, further specialisations were established in the increasingly important aspects of female and male biotechnology and herd medicine, which will continue to guarantee in-depth specialist care for cattle production and breeding in the future.
