Institute for Hygiene and Environment
| Institute for Hygiene and Environment
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| legal form | State company |
| founding | December 28, 1892 |
| Seat | Hamburg-Rothenburgsort |
| management | Ansgar Ferner (Management) Friedrich Liebig (Management Representative; Head of Food Safety and Zoonoses) |
| Number of employees | about 300 |
| Branch | Health, environmental and consumer protection |
| Website | http://www.hamburg.de/hu |
The Institute for Hygiene and Environment (HU) is the state laboratory of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg . It was founded in 1892 under the name “Hygiene Institute” and renamed “Hygiene Institute” in 1997 on the occasion of a reorganization. It was given its current name in 2003 as part of a further reorganization. Its tasks are primarily the official inspection and assessment of food and feed, urban and hospital hygiene, human and veterinary diagnostics as well as environmental analysis and environmental monitoring.
The institute was part of the Hamburg Authority for Health and Consumer Protection until 2020 and has since been affiliated with the Authority for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture . Since the beginning of 2015, it has been a state company in accordance with Section 106 (1) of the state budget regulations.
Tasks of the Institute for Hygiene and Environment
The Institute for Hygiene and Environment (HU) consists of three analytically oriented departments as well as the Service and Control department and various staff units.
Food safety and zoonoses
The area of food safety and zoonoses is divided into three departments:
- Department of Food I
- Department of Food II, residue analysis, cosmetics
- Department of Food III, Feed, Animal Health
Most of the working groups in the department deal with the investigation and legal assessment of food and feed, consumer goods, cosmetic products and tobacco products. The clients are in particular the specialist offices for consumer protection, trade and the environment in the Hamburg districts as part of the official food control as well as the veterinary and import office of the Hamburg authority for health and consumer protection (BGV) and the customs offices for import controls. The water police in Hamburg is responsible for enforcement.
In addition to safety, quality and composition, the correct labeling and many other parameters are also checked. For example, tests are carried out for additives or whether zoonotic pathogens (infectious diseases that are transmitted to humans from animal foods or through contact with animals, such as salmonellosis ) are present or whether contaminants and residues can be detected. For this purpose, chemical, physical, microbiological, molecular biological and organoleptic tests are carried out.
Closely connected with the investigation and legal assessment is the writing of scientific and legal statements on matters for the districts or the public prosecutor's office as well as on legislative procedures vis-à-vis the authorities and the federal government. In addition, some findings are to be represented in court as experts . A working group in the department carries out microbiological ( bacteriological , virological , mycological , immunological , molecular biological ) and pathological diagnostics on veterinary issues. It provides these services both on the official order within the framework of the Animal Health Act , the Animal Welfare Act and the Food and Feed Code as well as on behalf of resident veterinarians and other clients.
In addition, as part of the North German Cooperation (NoKo), the department works closely with the state research institutes from Berlin , Brandenburg , Bremen , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein and also analyzes food and tobacco products from these federal states. The test results flow into the official monitoring of the respective country.
Since 2014, the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences has been issuing certificates for non-animal food, cosmetic products , detergents and cleaning agents , tobacco products and food commodities . These health certificates, radioactivity certificates (non radiation certificates) or official confirmations from corresponding expert reports are required for export to some third countries.
Hygiene and infection medicine
The area of hygiene and infection medicine consists of the following departments:
- Hygiene department
- Hamburg Port Health Center (HPHC)
- Medical Microbiology Department
The main tasks of this medical department are, on the one hand, the epidemiological- microbiological education about the occurrence, frequency and virulence of infectious agents in Hamburg and, on the other hand, the development and implementation of strategies for infection prevention. In addition, there are pest control tasks such as the control of rats and pests on public land.
Microbiological (bacteriological, mycological, virological, immunological and molecular biological) and hygienic laboratory tests are carried out for public and private health and social services institutions to identify and prevent health risks from transmissible pathogens. These include, for example, hospitals, medical and dental practices, retirement and nursing homes, schools and kindergartens, health advice centers, the district offices and other clients. The examinations are carried out both within the framework of official epidemic and infection hygiene and on the basis of individual orders or contracts (taking into account and excluding possible conflicts of interest ). Furthermore, the hygienists and hygiene specialists carry out advice through to continuous consulting for public and private clients.
The department also includes the Hamburg Center for Infection Epidemiology , in which the spread of diseases in the population of the federal state of Hamburg is systematically monitored, the notifiable infectious diseases are centrally recorded and forwarded to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
The port and airport medical services as well as the Hamburg center for vaccination medicine are located in the “Hamburg Port Health Center”, a branch of the institute in Beltgens Garten 2. The employees of the port and airport medical service are responsible for carrying out the official tasks in the context of public health protection in the area of the port and at Hamburg Airport . The employees of the Center for Vaccination Medicine carry out all recommended vaccinations for children and adults by appointment and offer travel medical consultation hours . In addition, they participate in public vaccination programs and thus contribute to population immunization on the basis of legal provisions and health policy targets.
The department performs official monitoring functions primarily in the area of rat control on public land, fumigation supervision in the port and in supporting the districts in the supervision of hospitals, homes and practices.
Environmental studies
This area of the institute is responsible for environmental investigations with the departments:
- Department of Water, Soil, Waste, Genetic Engineering
- Air, radioactivity department
- Laboratory for environmental studies
This department is the central investigative body of the Hamburg authorities in the environmental field. It provides information on the quality of Hamburg's surface waters, including bathing waters. Technical pools, drinking and ground water and wastewater (especially direct dischargers) are also examined. Data on pollution of the air by harmful gases and dusts and, last but not least, on soil pollution in the urban area are collected and evaluated and waste analyzes are carried out.
In addition, the department operates a genetic engineering monitoring laboratory and the radioactivity measuring point in accordance with the Radiation Protection Precaution Act for monitoring environmental samples and food. All of these investigations are predominantly performed as services for the Hamburg Authority for the Environment and Energy (BUE), but also for other authorities and public companies.
The tasks of the employees can range from the planning of the investigation projects and measuring programs through sampling and analysis to the creation of reports. The data collected should map both the natural conditions of the environment and the anthropogenic influences as precisely as possible. Changes over time should be recognized and quantified at an early stage and measures in the environmental area should be checked by means of appropriate monitoring.
The collection of data is largely required by law; it is often carried out within the framework of the reporting obligation to the EU. Because the Water Framework Directive with subsidiary directives or the Surface Waters Ordinance , the Air Quality Directive with its subsidiary directives and a large number of legal regulations on wastewater, soil, waste and chemicals require surveys of the current situation, measures (plans) for improvement and success controls.
To fulfill these diverse tasks, the environmental department of the HU not only operates chemical , physico-chemical and biological laboratories, but also maintains automatic measurement networks. Both the Water Quality Monitoring Network (WGMN) and the Hamburg air monitoring network (HaLm) and the radioactivity monitoring network is an important pre-warning to. All measuring networks help to ensure that dangers are recognized at an early stage and that measures can be initiated in good time. The measurement data of the WGMN and the HaLm are published online and can be accessed free of charge at any time .
The area of environmental studies also has a focus on "external quality assurance" in the field of environmental analysis , it names competent laboratories for legally regulated tests, advises other bodies on awarding contracts and carries out round robin tests according to international standards and guidelines.
Service and control as well as staff units
The employees of the Service and Control department support the management in controlling the economic management through a meaningful reporting system . This controlling is based in particular on cost and performance accounting. The focus on finance and business administration also includes commercial accounting , tax law , procurement and the magazine . In addition, the department ensures IT operations, ensures information security and develops concepts for optimizing business processes through the use of modern information technologies . Specialized information is provided in the library . The registry is responsible for document management for the HU.
Other focal points are human resources and organization. Technical, infrastructural and commercial facility management is an essential part of the service and control department's tasks .
The employees of the “Central Tasks” department are responsible for press and public relations as well as quality management.
history
founding
The cholera epidemic of 1892 , in which around 17,000 people died in Hamburg, 8,605, gave rise to the establishment of the institute on December 28, 1892. To get the epidemic under control, Robert Koch was called to the Elbe. About the sanitary condition of the city he expressed himself with the words: "Gentlemen, I forget that I am in Europe". The increasing pressure on the city government to act forced the Senate to initiate the first epidemiological countermeasures. On Koch's recommendation, the hygienist Georg Gaffky and his assistant William Philipps Dunbar were brought in as advisors. They set up a first research laboratory in Stadthausbrücke 15n, which ultimately led to the establishment of the “Hygienic Institute Hamburg”. The 29-year-old William Philipps Dunbar was appointed director in 1893. Even then, the area of responsibility essentially encompassed today's spectrum of research:
- 1. Water, air, soil, school and factory hygiene
- 2. Food and everyday items
- 3. Education and training of the food police
Dunbar succeeded in extending the institute to include the Kaltehofe branch offices for drinking water testing in 1894 and the testing station for imported meat at the Kuhwerder port in 1903. With the move to larger premises in Jungiusstraße in 1899, the increasingly extensive tasks could now be adequately managed. In 1909 the institute took over serological work and founded the
- 4. Serological department.
Era of RO Neumann
Dunbar died in 1922. In the same year the health authorities appointed the secret medical advisor Rudolf Otto Neumann . In 1923 the institute was renamed the State Hygienic Institute . Neumann was director until 1937. Under his leadership, the institute expanded to become the largest facility of its kind in Germany. So in 1927 two more departments were created
- 5. City cleaning
- 6. Commercial, building, domestic hygiene, pest control, sports hygiene, heating, ventilation, traffic and bathing
In 1930, due to a lack of space, serology and industrial hygiene were relocated to an administrative building at what is now Gorch-Fock-Wall. With his dedicated teaching and research activities and the extensive collection named after him, RO Neumann has contributed significantly to the good reputation of the institute.
The Hygienic Institute at the time of National Socialism
Neumann resigned himself in 1935, but had to head the institute on a provisional basis until 1937, when his desired successor Karl Süpfle , who refused to join the NSDAP , could take over the management. In 1938 the institute was renamed Hygienisches Institut Hamburg again because of the Greater Hamburg Act . Because of his Jewish descent, Leopold Schwarz had to return his teaching permit in 1938. Süpfle barely had time to make a name for himself as a director. At the beginning of the war he was drafted as a hygiene advisor for a troop unit. In 1942, Süpfle fell near Stalingrad . During his military service and after his death, RO Neumann represented his managerial function in the Hygiene Institute. On June 23, 1943, the Jewish employee Ms. Welker was deported to Theresienstadt .
In October 1943, SS member Horst Habs took over the management of Hamburg from the Hygiene Institute of the University of Berlin. In July 1944, the main institute on Jungiusstrasse was so damaged by bombing that work in many areas had to be greatly reduced or even stopped entirely. After the war, Habs had to hand over management to Friedrich Grunske, a former naval doctor .
After the Second World War
In 1946 Friedrich Grunske handed over the management of the institute to the social hygienist Hans Harmsen. Due to the severe damage to the house on Jungiusstraße, the institute had to move to the building on Gorch-Fock-Wall. The house on Jungiusstrasse was later demolished. With the economic recovery in Germany, the workload grew and the tasks became more and more special. As a result, the institute was reorganized in 1951 and divided into four institutions.
- 1. Institute for General and Social Hygiene
- 2. Medical Research Institute (MUA)
- 3. Chemical and Food Research Institute (CLUA)
- 4. Research for urban sanitation
Considerations to build a new institute building were postponed in 1962 due to the flood disaster, despite well advanced planning, and ultimately rejected. Other health projects, such as the construction of hospitals, were given priority.
In 1969 Harmsen's employment at the institute ended. Harmsen, highly decorated and recognized, was extremely controversial in retrospect. Statements before and during the Nazi regime regarding euthanasia and racist ideas harmed him. So he had to give up his membership in the Pro Familia he founded in 1984 and step down from his honorary presidency. He was succeeded by Effenberger, head of the urban hygiene investigation department. After minor restructuring, the Hygiene Institute was reorganized into the following departments in 1970:
- 1. Institute for Hygiene (H)
- 2. Medical Research Institute (MUA)
- 3. Chemical and Food Research Institute (CLUA)
- 4. Central Institute for Occupational Medicine (ZfA)
In addition, the management of the institution was reorganized. Thereafter, the executive management was assigned to the respective department heads every two years. In 1980 Effenberger resigned because the Institute for Hygiene (H) was spun off and incorporated into the 1978 newly created authority for district affairs, nature and environmental protection (BBNU). Four years later, the disinfection facility was reassigned to the institute. The following professors headed the institute until 1995: Winkle (MUA), Schneider (CLUA), Lehnert (ZfA), Bockemühl (MUA), and Montag (CLUA). From 1984 onwards, Montag and Bockemühl took turns as leaders every two years.
Over time, the building on Gorch-Fock-Wall was in need of renovation. A renovation for laboratory use would have been too expensive, so the Senate decided to convert the former children's hospital on Marckmannstrasse in the Rothenburgsort district as a new location for the Hygiene Institute. In February 1986 the institute finally began to move. In April the nuclear power plant accident happened in Chernobyl , which put the institute to a test in terms of performance. At the same time as the move, analysis for radioactive contamination had to be carried out under high pressure.
Due to the increasingly tight budgets, an organizational report was drawn up in 1993, which in 1995 resulted in an organizational streamlining, especially at the CLUA. In addition, the ZfA was outsourced because of its different scientific orientation. The BBNU was dissolved and reorganized as the Authority for Health, Labor and Social Affairs (BAGS). The management structure was also changed. Since then, the institute has been headed by a commercial director, who is advised by a scientific spokesman. The two individual institutions with their subdivisions were dissolved and divided into a total of six departments. Two years later the veterinary research institute was closed and assigned to the institute as the seventh department. In the same year 1997 the institute was renamed the Hygiene Institute Hamburg (HI). The vaccination center was also reorganized as the eighth department with the move to the Burgstraße underground station. In the following period, the Senate changed the assignment of the institute more frequently. In 2003, the Institute for Hygiene (H), which was spun off in 1980 and which has been housed in a new building on the premises of the Hygiene Institute since 1995, was reconnected to the Institute. The institution, now known as the Institute for Hygiene and Environment, or HU for short, now consists of three analytically oriented departments as well as the Service and Control department and various staff units:
- HU1 service and control,
- HU2 food safety and zoonoses,
- HU3 Hygiene and Infection Medicine and
- HU4 environmental investigations.
building
The institute is headquartered on a multi-building campus. The main building consists of two historical building complexes, which have been connected to one another and expanded by several extensions. There are also several small outbuildings and a large new building that was built in the 1980s.
The western block is a former secondary school from 1914 in the Heimat style. The architectural decorations and the fountain come from Richard Kuöhl .
The eastern block is the former private children's hospital Rothenburgsort (1898–1982). On the south side of the building there is a life-size statue of a mother with an infant, also designed by Richard Kuöhl. Today, next to the former entrance, a memorial plaque commemorates the killing of at least 56 children in the children's department there under the direction of Wilhelm Bayer during the Nazi era against the background of so-called child euthanasia :
“Between 1941 and 1945, more than
50 disabled children were killed in this building .
A committee of experts classified them as 'unworthy life' and
assigned them to the children's departments to be killed.
The Hamburg health department was involved.
Hamburg medical officers monitored the admission and killing of
the children.
Doctors from the children's hospital did it.
None of the parties involved was prosecuted for this. "
Even more Hamburg children were killed in camps and killing centers. The memorial plaque was unveiled on November 9, 1999 by Senator for Social Affairs Karin Roth . Almost 10 years later, on October 9, 2009, the Senator for Social Affairs and Health, Dietrich Wersich, and the Hamburg bishop Maria Jepsen unveiled 35 stumbling blocks in memory of the murdered children. 33 stumbling blocks were dedicated to the children whose names are now known. Another stone was set for all those children whose names could not yet be found out. The 35th stumbling block is a reminder of Carl Stamm . The former head physician of the Rothenburgsort Children's Hospital was persecuted by the Nazis because of his Jewish origins . In 1941, Stamm evaded the threatened deportation by suicide .
literature
- Ralph Bojar: 100 years of the Hygiene Institute of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg . Authority for Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Hamburg 1992
- Sabine Schleiermacher: The population politician Hans Harmsen in the change of the political systems . Lecture as part of the scientific seminar series on September 25, 2001 at the Hygiene Institute Hamburg
- Romy Steinmeier: But Hamburg also had its good sides . 2005, ISBN 3-86108-083-4
- Felix Brahm and Tatjana Tymoshenko: Wise you created the weir that founded Hamburg's smallpox protection . 2005, ISBN 3-86108-078-8
- Felix Brahm: Teaching, Healing, Monitoring . 2007, ISBN 978-386108-897-4
- Andreas Babel: Child murder in the hospital. Why doctors killed disabled children in Rothenburgsort during National Socialism . Edition Falkenberg, Bremen 2015. ISBN 978-3-95494-057-8
Web links
- Institute for Hygiene and Environment
- Anniversary report - 125 years of the Institute for Hygiene and Environment
- Thomas Kühn: History of food import controls at Hamburg's borders , December 10, 2010, Lecture2Go, University of Hamburg , special event on food chemistry ( WiSe 10/11)
- Literature from and about the Institute for Hygiene and Environment in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hamburg tax authority : Strategic realignment of the budget: New state budget regulation (LHO)
- ^ Institute for Hygiene and Environment: Water Quality Measurement Network Hamburg - Continuous measurements on flowing waters
- ↑ Angelika Ebbinghaus , Heidrun Kaupen-Haas, Karl-Heinz Roth (eds.): Healing and destroying in the model district Hamburg . Hamburg 1984
- ^ Article in the Hamburger Abendblatt from October 10, 2009 , accessed on October 28, 2009.
Coordinates: 53 ° 32 ′ 5.7 ″ N , 10 ° 2 ′ 45.5 ″ E