The Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations (Ehrenmal der Radiologie), is set in the grounds of the St. Georg Hospital in Hamburg (now Asklepios Klinik St. Georg). It is dedicated to those scientific and healthcare professionals who lost their lives through radiation exposure in the early years following the discovery of x-rays and radium.
The inscription on the original tall commemorative stone states that the Monument is dedicated to “The Röntgenologists and radiologists of all nations, to the doctors, physicists, chemists, technicians, laboratory assistants and nurses who sacrificed their lives in the fight against disease. They were valiant pioneers in the effective and safe use of x-rays and radium in medicine. Immortal is the glory of the work of the dead.” The dedication uses the term “Röntgenologist”, an early term for radiologist, which acknowledges Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays in 1895.
ORIGINAL TALL STONE – FRONT VIEW
ORIGINAL TALL STONE – RIGHT VIEW
ORIGINAL TALL STONE – BACK VIEW
ORIGINAL TALL STONE – LEFT VIEW
At the time of its inauguration in 1936, the monument bore 169 names. By 1959, there were 359, and a further four stone plaques had been placed around the original stele. The Monument also stands as a reminder that we owe our modern radiation protection standards to the sacrifices of these early pioneers of diagnostic radiology.
FIRST STONE – FRONT
FIRST STONE – BACK
SECOND STONE – FRONT
SECOND STONE – BACK
THIRD STONE – FRONT
THIRD STONE – BACK
FOURTH STONE – FRONT
FOURTH STONE – BACK
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