„… doch erscheint in seiner Denkschrift die Bedeutung des klinischen Films für den Unterricht allzustark betont.“ Zur Geschichte des Medizinisch-kinematographischen Instituts der Charité 1923–1931

Abstract

Between 1923 and 1931 the „Medizinisch-kinematographische Institut fur Unterricht und Forschung“ (Medical-Cinematographic Institute for Teaching and Research) made numerous films at the Charite-Hospital in Berlin. The Medical-Cinematographic Institute was founded and directed by the Berlin surgeon Alexander von Rothe (1880–1932) and was designed specifically for the production of scientific and teaching films. The paper begins with a description of the Institute’s foundation, its working practices and its spectrum of products. It then discusses possible reasons for the Institute’s closure, which was not only based on economic considerations. Technical difficulties and the Institute’s location inside a university hospital were additional contributing factors. Of special importance among these was that the demand for medical films, especially in teaching, remained small. Traditional teaching practices, as for example clinical demonstrations, persisted. The paper argues that film remained a relatively minor component of teaching, because it did not succeed in authentically reproducing the medical gaze.