The Bundeswehr Medical Academy (german: Sanitätsakademie der Bundeswehr), (short SanAkBw) is a part of the '' Joint Medical Service'' of the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

and is subordinate of the Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service Headquarters in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

. It is the central education facility for medical training in the Bundeswehr and in charge of the coordination for

military medicine The term military medicine has a number of potential connotations. It may mean: *A medical specialty, specifically a branch of occupational medicine attending to the medical risks and needs (both preventive and interventional) of sold ...

and medical

CBRN defense Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence (CBRN defence) are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical warfare, chemical, biological warfare, biological, radiological warfare, radiological or nuclear warfare, nucle ...

. Subordinate to the academy are three institutes for

radiobiology Radiobiology (also known as radiation biology, and uncommonly as actinobiology) is a field of clinical and basic medical sciences that involves the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living things, especially health effects of radiation. ...

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and for

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating expo ...

History and coat of arms

The academy was founded in 1956 as Sanitätstruppenschule des Heeres in Degerndorf am Inn. After the institutes were added it was renamed as the Academy for Medical Issues and Health of the Bundeswehr (german: Akademie des Sanitäts- und Gesundheitswesens der Bundeswehr) in October 1963. In 1997 the Bundeswehr Medical Academy (german: Sanitätsakademie der Bundeswehr) received its current name. The three institutes were returned to the academy in 2013, after the authority in charge the german: Sanitätsamt der Bundeswehr was disbanded. In 2012 the '' Audimax'' was named after

Hans Scholl Hans Fritz Scholl (; 22 September 1918 – 22 February 1943) was, along with Alexander Schmorell, one of the two founding members of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. The principal author of the resistance movement's ...

, a member of the

White Rose The White Rose (german: Weiße Rose, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students (and one professor) at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, ...

, a resistance group against the Nazi-regime, who served as a medic at this time. In the

COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...

the Institute for Mikrobiology of the academy was at the end of January 2020 the first place in Germany to isolate the virus for further research. Furthermore the academy supports the local authorities. The coat of arms goes back to

Generalarzt ''Generalarzt'' (short: ''GenArzt'' or ''GA'') is the designation of a military rank as well as the official title in German speaking armed forces. It is equivalent to the ''Admiralarzt'' / ''Generalapotheker'' and Brigadegeneral / Flottillenadmiral ...

Claus Günter Voss, who was in charge of uniting the academy in the current location and was introduced in May 1982. It is dark blue, resembling the colour of the medical branch of the Bundeswehr and includes the head of the ancient Greek goddess

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

with helmet. The letter A stands for the status as an academy. Behind the Athena is a diagonal

Rod of Asclepius In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; grc, Ράβδος του Ασκληπιού, , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god A ...

as sign for all types of medics and a sword, standing for the military background. All signs in front of the dark blue background are in white/silver, like the

Coat of arms of Bavaria The coat of arms of Bavaria has greater and lesser versions. It was introduced by law fully by 5 June 1950: Meaning The modern coat of arms was designed by Eduard Ege, following heraldic traditions, in 1946. * First Quarter (The Golden Lion ...

which symbolises the connection to the location of the base. The three institutes have similar coats of arms but with specific symbols instead of the letter A. Education in Munich Medical and health organisations based in Bavaria Military education and training in Germany

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Military medicine in Germany Military training facilities Military units and formations established in 1956 Military units and formations established in 1997 Military units and formations of the Bundeswehr

References

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