Rudolf Virchow. Vielseitigkeit, Genialität und Menschlichkeit

Virchow is seen as the ultimate symbol of German science, as an embodiment of the human knowledge of his age. What did he understand by this? The objective (not nationalistic) quest for truth. Contemporaries and successors from all over the world praised him. His own motivation underpins his research and his active encouragement of many sciences in their modern form. This great pathologist, hygienist, social physician, anthropologist, ethnologist and prehistorian played (and continues to play) an outstanding role not only in science and scholarship but also in politics. In his debates – which always kept the same form – with Bismarck and other political opponents, he became a role model for modern German democracy. His own experiences were decisive in the development of his political path. For this reason it is worth studying his biography.