A Pilgrimage To The Site of Roentgen's Discovery
ACR Bulletin
November 1995
A Pilgrimage To The Site of Roentgen''s Discovery
In Wurzburg, Germany
by James M. Moorefield of Sacramento, CA,past president of the American College of Radiology
It is the centennial year. One hundred years ago Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered the x-ray and, by coincidence, I am in Europe in 1995 to attend the European Congress of Radiology. Despite Wurzburg being out of the way of my planned itinerary, I felt compelled to make a pilgrimage to the site of Roentgen''s discovery.
My motivation was based on the knowledge that I owe a lot to the x-ray and Professor Roentgen. More than half of my life has been associated with radiology and that has provided me with intellectual satisfaction and economic comfort for my family. Most radiologists will not have the opportunity to see the birthplace of radiology and especially not in this special year. I also do not believe that there will be a bicentennial celebration. The geometric expansion of scientific knowledge makes it likely that some new modality will supplant the x-ray and what we do today will be a historic curiosity. In any event, for me this would be the only centennial.
Thus, on a rainy morning I left my wife at our hotel in Salzburg, Austria. She was more inclined to sightsee and shop in Mozart''s hometown than spend most of the day on trains to get to this destination.
Changing trains in Munich, the trip to Wurzburg takes about four and a half hours. This may seem a bit long, but travel by rail in Europe is a delight. The trains are fast, clean and absolutely punctual. Being a bit of a train buff, I enjoyed the nine-hour roundtrip. However, the length of the trip would severely limit my time in Wurzburg.
Upon arrival in Wurzburg, I hustled through the train station and out to the plaza where a huge banner announced that this was the centennial of the x-ray. At this point I had no idea where the laboratory was so I headed for the tourist bureau on the plaza. Since I had only 90 minutes before I would have to return to the station to catch the last connection back to Salzburg, I was glad to hear that the laboratory was less than a half mile from the station. At the same time I was disappointed to find that the main historical commemorative exhibit was rather far away at a museum known as the Wurzburger Residenz. There would be no time for that.
The easy walk to the laboratory along the Roentgenring took 10 minutes. It took nearly as long to figure out which building I was looking for. The Roentgen Memorial Hall is not well marked and the actual entrance is on a side facing a driveway. The building is one of several similar institutional structures on what is part of the University of Wurzburg and is rather nondescript.
Once inside, I was simultaneously inspired and disappointed. There is a thrill at being at the site of such a monumental discovery and from that perspective, you are indeed impressed. The exhibit, on the other hand, was very limited. A video in multiple languages highlighted Roentgen''s life in a brief 10 minutes. The walls were lined with a few showcases containing various artifacts, largely educational certificates and a few letters. The actual laboratory itself was off limits. A recreation of how it looked originally is protected from intruders by a transparent glass or lucite panel that completely fills the doorway. I am not sure of exactly what I expected, but somehow it seemed that there ought to be more. Perhaps a library, or an exhibit related to the subsequent development of uses of the x-ray should be on site.
I also expected to see more visitors. After all, it is the centennial year. Instead, it was nearly empty. Only three or four other persons observed, during the 45 minutes, that I was there.
The quiet of the hall allowed for some reflection. Where would medicine be today if the x-ray had not been discovered? How many lives have been saved or made better by this achievement? What would my own life have been like if this discovery had not been made? I honestly believe that this work of Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen is second to none in scientific significance. So many other advances in medicine have been dependent on the use of x-rays. It certainly was appropriate that Roentgen was the recipient of the very first Nobel prize.
Despite my disappointment in the rather meager showing at the laboratory site, I certainly felt very satisfied that I had made the trip. It was the thing to do for a radiologist. A bit of irony completed my day. The train taking me from Wurzburg to Munich was called "The Riemenschneider," no doubt named after the renowed former president and Gold Medalist of the ACR.