Friedrich Loeffler Institute

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The Friedrich Loeffler Institute ( FLI ) is the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health : It was founded in 1910 by the bacteriologist Friedrich Loeffler ; Headquartered has it on the Hanseatic City of Greifswald belonging Riems . In 1952 it was named after its founder.

Friedrich Loeffler (1852-1915)

tasks

The FLI is an independent higher federal authority of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture . It primarily researches the infectious diseases of farm animals as well as related sciences, including molecular biology , virus diagnostics , immunology and epidemiology . The Animal Disease Act and the Genetic Engineering Act assign the institute special monitoring and research tasks. The institute publishes its research results internationally and works together with other national and international scientists and institutes.

The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut houses over 80 national reference laboratories (NRL) for notifiable animal diseases and notifiable animal diseases, and it is also the Collaborating Center for Zoonoses in Europe of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

As of January 1st, 2008, three institutes were affiliated to the Federal Research Center for Agriculture . A new animal health research institute has been established on the island of Riems , for which new high-security laboratories ( biological protection level 4 ) have been set up for work on deadly and infectious viruses.

Locations and organization

The research facility is currently divided into twelve institutes at a total of five locations in Germany. President and head of the institute is Thomas Mettenleiter , who also has a teaching position at the nearby University of Greifswald and at the University of Rostock .

history

Headquarters Riems

Ordinance on the transfer of the state research institutes Insel Riems to the Reich of March 30, 1943
An in-house development of the FLI: roller wheel for vaccine production, in use from 1975 to 1995

Friedrich Loeffler (1852–1915), professor of hygiene at the University of Greifswald , was the first to describe the pathogen causing foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in 1898 . His further research and experiments on FMD led to the spread of the virus in the Greifswald area several times . That is why he was asked by the state to find a new place for his investigations. After the Prussian government acquired the island of Riems in 1909, he founded the world's first virological research institute in 1910 on the island of Riems near Greifswald . At that time the station essentially consisted of stable rooms for twelve cattle and a few pigs, a laboratory with a room size of around 20 m² and a few small ancillary rooms as well as a few living rooms for the staff. Friedrich Loeffler's team also included Paul Uhlenhuth . In the beginning, the only connection from the mainland was the Loeffler steamer . Later a cable car was added, which ensured traffic for people and materials even in winter when the water was frozen over.

In 1913 Loeffler was appointed to the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, the research on the Riems dried up and was finally stopped in the First World War . It was not until 1919 that the veterinarian Otto Waldmann was entrusted with continuing Loeffler's research on FMD. In 1920, researchers on the island of Riems discovered the susceptibility of guinea pigs to the FMD virus. On average, 6,000 guinea pigs were housed on so-called guinea pig floors, and the total annual requirement was around 70,000 guinea pigs . The guinea pig showed excellent aptitude for the transmission of the disease. It was also cheaper than the costly experiments with cattle and pigs, which were hard to come by. The most important task of the institute was to find a vaccine for the disease. From 1938 to 1940 the first vaccine was used to combat an FMD outbreak. From 1942 to 1948 Erich Traub worked as the laboratory director of the Reich Research Institute for Viral Diseases of Animals, from 1943 the institute was directly subordinate to the Reich as the "Reichsforschungsanstalt Insel Riems". The institute was headed from 1920 to 1948 by Otto Waldmann, who, after Kurt Blome and Leonardo Conti (head of the Main Office for Public Health ), was directly subordinate to Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler . Waldmann, Traub and Hanns-Christoph Nagel worked on biological warfare, among other things, during this time .

After the end of the Second World War , almost all of its equipment was withdrawn from the institute as part of the reparations payments. However, the institute resumed its work at the end of 1945, as the FMD spread again. From 1948, Heinz Röhrer headed the "Research Institute for Animal Diseases Insel Riems". After the GDR was founded, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences took over responsibility for the institute. In 1952 the institute was named after Loeffler, who would have been 100 years old that year. In the years that followed, the institute conducted research on foot-and-mouth disease, swine fever , poultry diseases and other diseases in farm animals.

Since the expertise of the research institute was no longer available after the division of Germany into the Federal Republic, it was decided in 1952 to set up the "Federal Research Center for Virus Diseases of Animals" (BFAV) in Tübingen. In 1992 the institute was re-established as part of the Federal Research Center for Virus Diseases in Animals (BFAV). In 1997 the Riems site became the headquarters of the research institute.

Since the 3rd amendment to the Animal Diseases Act came into force on June 26, 2004, the former Federal Research Institute for Virus Diseases in Animals has been renamed the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) and has since been given the additional designation of the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health .

By 2010, the 100th anniversary of the institute's founding, the FLI had grown into the most modern animal disease research institute in Europe. New laboratories and stables were built for around 260 million euros. In the laboratories with the world's highest protection level (BSL-4), work and research can also be carried out on the most dangerous viruses. The foundation stone was laid on October 30, 2008 in the presence of State Secretary Gert Lindemann , Prime Minister Erwin Sellering and Greifswald's Lord Mayor Arthur König . The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on September 4, 2009. The new building was completed in 2011 by a consortium of various companies.

Around 450 employees work on the island of Riems.

The Tübingen location was closed at the end of 2011 and moved to the island. The Institute for Epidemiology was relocated from Wusterhausen / Dosse to the island of Riems and the reference laboratories to Greifswald and Jena and the location there was closed at the end of 2013. Mariensee is also being expanded and is to accommodate the facilities from Celle and Braunschweig at the future location in Mecklenhorst / Mariensee.

From the beginning of 2012 to the end of 2013, the square was renovated as part of the third construction phase, the listed main building was reconstructed and three further wings were demolished and rebuilt. 300 million euros from the federal budget were invested. The newly founded Institute for International Animal Health / One Health started its work at the beginning of 2020.

Braunschweig

The Institute for Animal Nutrition was founded as early as 1948 as one of the first institutes of the new Research Institute for Agriculture (FAL) in Braunschweig-Völkenrode. Research has been carried out in the fields of nutritional and metabolic physiology, animal feed science and evaluation since the beginning. In the first few years (decades) the focus was on the effective use of feed and increasing the performance of farm animals to ensure sufficient food. In 1966 the FAL - and with it the Institute for Animal Nutrition - was integrated into federal research, namely into the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Advising the federal government thus gained in importance.

Due to the rapid increase in production in agriculture, the questions changed - competitiveness and rationalization came to the fore. In animal nutrition, industrially produced compound feed and growth-promoting substances were increasingly used and investigated accordingly. In the course of time, the focus has shifted away from the issue of basic food security towards improved knowledge of the nutritional needs of farm animals. New and less common animal feed, unconventional extraction methods and recycling processes as well as research on additives and pollutants expanded the research spectrum.

Today the research of the Institute for Animal Nutrition aims at the effective conversion of feed or feed ingredients into high quality and safe food or other animal services. Economic, ecological and ethical aspects as well as animal health are taken into account.

Since the reorganization of departmental research in the business area of ​​the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) on January 1, 2008, the Institute for Animal Nutrition in Braunschweig has belonged to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute.

Celle

From April 1, 1935 to March 31, 1938, the state-approved experimental and research institute for silk construction worked in Celle as part of the state-approved institute for beekeeping and silk production as well as small animal husbandry (legal entity: President of the Province of Hanover or administration of the Hanover Provincial Association). This received from the Reich and Prussian Minister for Food and Agriculture and the Reichsnährstand the task of "scientific supervision of the German silk production, as far as the mulberry moth (Bombyx mori) is to be considered an object of research in all its stages". This task resulted in the "processing of all questions of biology, physiology, genetics, pathology and the practical breeding of the mulberry silkworm as well as the technology (physics and chemistry) of silk". On April 1, 1938, the research facility became the “Reich Institute for Silk Construction”.

From 1942 the research tasks were extended to other areas of small animal breeding and the name was changed on November 30, 1942 to "Reich Research Institute for Small Animal Breeding". 1948–1950 this received the interim designation "Central Research Institute for Small Animal Breeding" and in 1950 was assigned to the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forests as the "Federal Research Institute for Small Animal Breeding". The main focus of work was initially on breeding, keeping and feeding small animals as well as diseases and pests in small animals. Throughout the 1960s, research focused on poultry research as poultry farming became an important part of agriculture.

On July 2, 1974, the institute in Celle was incorporated into the Research Institute for Agriculture (FAL) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture as an institute for small animal breeding. It continued to deal primarily with questions relating to poultry production. From July 1, 1992, the institute was named "Institute for Small Animal Research of the FAL-Braunschweig". In the middle of 2002 it became the "Institute for Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry" of the FAL. Since then, the main focus of the institute's work has been to further develop husbandry methods for farm animals with a view to improving behavior and animal health. Aspects such as transport as well as stunning and killing during slaughter are taken into account.

Since the reorganization of departmental research in the business area of ​​the Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) on January 1, 2008, the institute in Celle has belonged to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute.

Jena

Institute for Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses

On July 1, 1954, the Institute for Bacterial Disease Research (ITSF) of the German Academy of Agricultural Sciences was founded. The structural arrangement of the facility has repeatedly been adapted to the increasing requirements resulting from both scientific progress and the needs of veterinary practice. In addition to departments or subject areas for the basic subjects with their respective methodological equipment such as bacteriology and serology, virology, mycology, pathology and histology (including electron microscopy), pathophysiology, immunology and biochemistry, departments such as radiochemistry, molecular biology / genetic engineering, cell and tissue culture as well Biostatistics, which were initially aimed at the introduction of special investigation procedures. The political change and the German reunification represented a decisive turning point for the Jena Institute. Like all scientific institutions in the former GDR, the Institute was also subjected to an evaluation by the Science Council (May 29, 1991). He recommended "to continue the ITSF in the form of a federal research institute for bacterial animal diseases and zoonoses in the business area of ​​the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG)." Finally, on January 1, 1992, the facility was transferred to the Institute for Veterinary Medicine (Robert von Ostertag Institute) of the Federal Health Office as the "Bacterial Animal Diseases and Control of Zoonoses" department. After its dissolution, the entire workforce was transferred to the newly founded Federal Institute for Consumer Health Protection and Veterinary Medicine (BgVV) (period from July 1, 1994 to October 31, 2002). During this time, Horst Meyer (1990–1997) and Dietrich Schimmel (1997–2002) acted as institute and department heads.

Even after the incorporation in November 2002 as the Jena site into the Federal Research Center for Virus Diseases of Animals (BFAV), it was possible to continue significant parts of the traditional fields of work. In addition, research projects oriented towards current problems were increasingly tackled and new laboratory methods were incorporated. A number of important zoonoses are now among the diseases that are mainly dealt with, such as B. salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, tuberculosis and chlamydiosis.

Mariensee

Institute for Farm Animal Genetics in Mariensee

On the farm of the Mariensee monastery in Neustadt am Rübenberge , a remonteamt was founded around 1896 , where young horses were trained for military service. Animal breeding research has been carried out there since 1946. The development of the research facility began with the leasing of the monastery property in order to continue the work of the "Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Animal Breeding Research" founded in Dummerstorf near Rostock in 1939 after the end of the Second World War . The Dummerstorf Institute was assigned to the "Research Center for Animal Production" of the Academy for Agricultural Sciences in the former GDR and after German reunification as the " Research Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals " of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Association (WGL).

At the founding meeting of the Max Planck Society in February 1948, the facility in Mariensee was given the name "Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Animal Breeding and Animal Nutrition". At almost the same time, the federal remonteam in the neighboring village of Mecklenhorst and the Trenthorst and Wulmenau goods in Schleswig-Holstein were integrated into the institute. In 1974 it was affiliated to the Federal Research Center for Agriculture (FAL) with its headquarters in Braunschweig-Völkenrode as the "Institute for Animal Breeding and Animal Behavior" and thus in the departmental research of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV).

With the reorganization of departmental research by the BMELV and the associated dissolution of the FAL, the Mariensee Institute was assigned to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) as the "Institute for Farm Animal Genetics" on January 1, 2008. In the next few years, the structural requirements are to be created to accommodate the FLI institutes in Celle and Braunschweig at the Mariensee location. The institute is currently divided into three research areas, a working group as well as the experimental station and administration.

Tübingen

Former Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Tübingen

The establishment of the Federal Research Institute for Virus Diseases of Animals (BFAV) in Tübingen was decided in 1952 after the former Reich Research Institute on the island of Riems was no longer available to the Federal Republic after the division of Germany. The current reason for the decision was the unusually violent FMD epidemic in 1950/52, which caused heavy losses in agricultural animal husbandry. Erich Traub, who came from the island of Riems and was working in the USA at the time, was entrusted with setting up and managing the research institute, whose tasks were not limited to FMD research, but were expanded to include other virus-related animal diseases. The fact that Tübingen was chosen as the location was not least due to the fact that the Max Planck Institute for Virus Research was already located there.

From 1991 to 1993 the BFAV was provisionally headed by Heinz-Jürgen Thiel and from 1993 to 1995 by Volker Moennig. He was followed in 1995 by Thomas C. Mettenleiter on the island of Riems as President of the Federal Research Institute. In 1997 the island of Riems became the headquarters of the Federal Research Institute. The Tübingen location was closed on December 31, 2011. The Institute for Immunology, which last worked there, continues its work at the main Insel Riems site.

Wusterhausen

Initially, Wusterhausen was the location of a district veterinary clinic since 1962. In 1971 this was raised to a district institute for veterinary affairs (BIV). Research was carried out on the diagnosis of diseases and on animal feed. Since no epidemiological research was carried out in the GDR, the decision was made in 1982 to convert the institute into a State Institute for Epizootiology and Animal Disease Control (SIFET) . The institute started its work in 1985 and only focused on epidemiology. It was subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Management of the GDR . 50 employees were employed in Wusterhausen, 15 of them scientists. In 2014 the institute was relocated to the headquarters in Greifswald.

Permanent exhibition

Loeffler house on the island of Riems

On the occasion of the institute's 100th anniversary, a permanent exhibition was set up on the island in the Loeffler House in 2010. It includes handwritten documents, objects from the researcher's private life and, as the centerpiece, the bronze portrait head of Loeffler created by Heinrich Drake . Furthermore, an exemplary work table as well as photo and film material are shown. An information wall shows the successfully combated animal diseases as well as milestones in the institute's research. In an adjoining room, the development of the island can be traced using a timeline. The exhibition can be viewed on weekdays by prior arrangement.

Publications

The FLI has been issuing the annual animal health report since 2000, thus fulfilling an obligation anchored in the Animal Disease Act.

literature

  • Annette Hinz-Wessels, Jens Thiel: The Friedrich Loeffler Institute 1910-2010. 100 years of research for animal health. be.bra Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-937233-69-7 .
  • Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut: cradle of virus research - an exhibition on the 100-year history of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut. ( PDF , 6800 kB, accessed on August 18, 2011).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ National Reference Laboratories .
  2. ↑ Britta Kuntoff: deutschlandradiokultur.de: Island with the highest security level . Deutschlandradio Kultur , May 15, 2014.
  3. ↑ Foot and Mouth Disease: Tagesspiegel Online sprayed April 9, 2001 from a height of 20 meters above the pastures .
  4. ↑ Press release from June 6, 2011 fli.bund.de, accessed on January 13, 2012.
  5. ↑ fli.bund.de: New building on the island of Riems is growing - topping-out ceremony on September 4th  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.fli.bund.de , September 1st, 2010; Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ heitkamp-ikb.com: New building FLI Friedrich-Löffler-Institut Insel Riems ; accessed on December 22, 2015.
  7. ↑ fli.bund.de: FLI gives the go-ahead for the move to the new building , press release, June 6, 2011, accessed on January 5, 2012.
  8. ↑ Tübingen site (until December 31, 2011). Friedrich Loeffler Institute, accessed on May 12, 2016 .
  9. ^ Friedrich Loeffler Institutes are moving closer together. In: agrarzeitung.de. December 29, 2011, accessed May 12, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Wusterhausen site (until December 31, 2013). Friedrich Loeffler Institute, accessed on May 12, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Elke Reinking, Thomas C. Mettenleiter: 100 Years of the Friedrich Loeffler Institute - 100 Years of Research for Animal Health. In: Veterinary survey. Vol. 65, 2010, ISSN  0049-3864 , pp. 361-369.
  12. ↑ bbl-mv.de: Complete expansion of the Friedrich Loeffler Institute on the island of Riems ( memento of March 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) , December 9, 2011, accessed on January 5, 2012.
  13. ↑ Martina Rathke: On Riems, Europe researches the deadliest pathogens. , zeit.de, August 15, 2013, accessed on August 20, 2013.
  14. ↑ FLI press release: “ Exhibition in the Loeffler House on the island of Riems opens regularly ” from August 8, 2011, accessed on August 18, 2011.
  15. ↑ Eckart Roloff and Karin Henke-Wendt: Traditional research for healthy animals. (Das Loeffler-Haus) In: Visit your doctor or pharmacist. A tour through Germany's museums for medicine and pharmacy. Volume 1, Northern Germany. S. Hirzel, Stuttgart 2015, pp. 73-74, ISBN 978-3-7776-2510-2 .

Coordinates: 54 ° 10 ′ 58 ″  N , 13 ° 21 ′ 47 ″  E