Two hundred years of orthopaedics in Wuerzburg-one hundred years of the Koenig-Ludwig-Haus.

Wuerzburg in the centre of Germany claims to be a cradle of modern orthopaedics. Under the leadership of Johann Georg Heine (1771-1831) the first German orthopaedic hospital, the Carolinum, was established in 1816. Johann Georg Heine's legacy was continued by his son Joseph (1803-1877) and his nephew Bernhard Heine (1800-1846), before Albert Hoffa (1859-1907) put the clinical practice of orthopaedics on a strict scientific basis and further promoted a worldwide exchange of knowledge. In 1916, Albert Hoffa's successor Jakob Riedinger (1861-1917) founded the Koenig-Ludwig-Haus, which hosts the Orthopaedic Hospital and the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research of the University of Wuerzburg. On the occasion of the bicentenary and centenary anniversaries of the founding of the two orthopaedic hospitals, we provide a short view on the development of orthopaedics in Wuerzburg.