History of the IfMB
From chemistry to microbiology
The Institute of Microbiology was founded in 1972 when Hans Georg Trüper took over the Chair of Microbiology at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. It was initially accommodated in a former private house at Kurfürstenstraße 74. In 1973, Jobst-Heinrich Klemme took over the newly established professorship for Applied Microbiology.
Since 1975, the Institute of Microbiology has been located at Meckenheimer Allee 168. Previously, the Chemical Institute of the University of Bonn resided at this address for over 100 years. Constructed between 1864 and 1867 for August Kekulé, the chemical institute building was the largest worldwide at the time. Kekulé's statue still adorns the front of the building. With the move, the name of the institute changed to the "Institute for Microbiology and Biotechnology".
Many disciplines under one roof
The Department of Agricultural and Food Microbiology, part of the Faculty of Agriculture, also moved into the building in Meckenheimer Allee under Bernd Stille. Between 1982 and 1992, this was completely renovated, extended into the left inner courtyard and restored in the entrance area. It was also modernized in terms of security, spatial layout and technical equipment. The Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, belonging to the Faculty of Medicine, also moved into the building in 1991 under Bernd Wiedemann. The building thus united working groups from three different faculties under one roof.
Change of generations
In all three faculties, several generational changes occurred through emeritus appointments:
Johannes Krämer succeeded Bernd Stille in 1978, Erwin Galinski succeeded Hans-Georg Trüper in 2001, and Hans-Georg Sahl succeeded Bernd Wiedemann in 2004. After Jobst-Heinrich Klemme, Uwe Deppenmeier took over and André Lipski succeeded Johannes Krämer.
With the award of a reserach unit professorship and the appointment of Tanja Schneider in 2015, the Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology became an interfaculty institute of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. This expansion was also made possible by the move of the Department of Agricultural and Food Microbiology under André Lipski to the new Food Sciences building.
In 2021, Ulrike Endesfelder became the successor of Erwin Galinski.
In 2022 we were able to celebrate our 50th anniversary with a large festive symposium.