Wilhelm Fabry (1560-1634)

In 2010 the town of Hilden celebrated the 450th anniversary of the birth of the famous surgeon Wilhelm Fabry who latinized his name to Guilielmus Fabricius Hildanus. In his memory Hilden established, in 1989, the Wilhelm-Fabry-Museum which is situated in an old and disused schnapps distillery; here the life and work of the surgeon is documented in regularly changing exhibitions of medicine historical interest. A school in the town also carries his name and in 1911 the town erected a bronze monument in memory of its famous citizen. Although Fabry should not perhaps be seen as the founder of modern surgery (he was nevertheless one of the most important of the European “handworker surgeons” of his time and is, as such, firmly established in the history of medicine. Thanks to Dr. John Wilcockson, dealer in scientific antiquities in Marburg, for his translation into the English language.