W. SCHIEFER The 31st annual meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie was held in Erlangen on May 1 - 4,1980. The numerous participants obviously enjoyed the opportunity to be co me acquainted with the attractive city of gardens, lecture theatres and workshops surrounded by a lovely countryside and a historic environment. The pro gram included a visit to the neighboring city of Nürnberg, to the old Reichsstadt Regensburg and an opening ceremony in the orangerie of the Erlangen palace, where the "Bamberger Ensemble für alte Musik" presented interesting and little-known early music. The annual meeting was held in the newly-built "Kopfklinik" of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, which houses the departments of neurosurgery, neurology and ophthalmology. As far as possible, many functions of this hospital were centralized because this has economic advantages and saves personell. Other functional units, such as the operating theatres, the intensive care units, research laboratories and units specific to the individual disciplines remained decentralized and independent. This concept has proved to be a happy solution. At the membership meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie, Prof. Dr. K. J. Zülch of Cologne was made an honorary member of this society, of which he is a founding member.
