[In commemoration of Adolf Kussmaul's 200th birthday: Describer of the Kussmaul Breathing and pioneer of endoscopy].

Adolf Kussmaul (1822-1902) studied medicine in Heidelberg. The name Kussmaul is known worldwide for the panarteritis nodosa, the pulsus paradoxus and the venous pulse in callous mediastinopericarditis as well as the high-frequency and deep breathing in diabetic ketoacidosis. Kussmaul was also a pioneer in the endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the oesophagus and stomach. He had to close the medical practice he had started in 1850 in the black Forrest town of Kandern after three years, having developed health problems. Kussmaul's approach to his studies was clinical-scientific. In 1855, under the guidance of Virchow, he received his doctorate from the university of Würzburg. From 1859-1888 he held a chair in Erlangen, Freiburg and Strasbourg. He continued working as a physician after retirement at Heidelberg and wrote his memoirs "Jugenderinnerungen eines alten Arztes".