Dear Colleagues,

You are cordially invited to attend the 67^th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery from June 12-15, 2016 in Frankfurt am Main.

As part of this year's Annual Meeting in Frankfurt, we will also be hosting the inaugural Joint Meeting with the Korean Neurosurgical Society. We are particularly pleased that this first, large-scale scientific exchange between the two professional associations is taking place in Frankfurt am Main.

The friendly, wide-ranging relationships we enjoy with our South Korean colleagues have been established over many years. With the large number of abstracts we have received from Korea, it goes without saying that we are expecting many of our international colleagues to make the journey to Frankfurt – something we are very much looking forward to.

In keeping with what has almost become a tradition, our Annual Meeting will be starting with the “Educational Day”, covering fields such as neuro-oncology, vascular neurosurgery, spinal neurosurgery and epilepsy. Renowned experts will have the opportunity to cover a broad spectrum of our neurosurgical activities in a series of practical overview seminars.

Following on from the Educational Day and the ongoing administrative sessions, the opening ceremony of the 67^th Annual Meeting will take place in the “Messe Frankfurt” Trade Fair grounds. This event will see three honorary memberships awarded along with a whole host of prizes both to members of our professional association and our Korean guests. We are delighted to announce that the keynote speech will be delivered by Germany’s most eminent neurobiologist and cognitive researcher, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolf Singer, Director Emeritus of the Neurophysiology Department at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt am Main.

Starting on the Monday, the comprehensive and outstanding scientific programme for this year’s Annual Meeting reflects wide-ranging aspects of the key areas of our specialist field.
With a total of 925 abstracts submitted, this represents the largest number of scientific contributions to an Annual Meeting to date. Of these submissions, the programme committee has selected 454 lectures and 152 posters.
After taking on board repeated requests and feedback, this year’s Annual Meeting for our professional association in Frankfurt am Main will place the scientific sessions right at the forefront.
The proportion of intramural and extramural supporting events has been reduced to a minimum to allow all participants to attend as many scientific sessions as possible.
The key pillars of the congress are the plenary lectures covering five main topics that will be presented by recognised national and international neurosurgical colleagues. These presentations will take the form of various lectures, each with a different focus.
In something of a novelty, 30 selected scientific sessions – including sessions from the Joint Meeting – will be introduced by subject-appropriate keynote lectures.
As we have seen in Dresden and Karlsruhe in the past, the poster sessions will once again be afforded sufficient time and space to emphasise the significance of this type of presentation. Just like in previous years, the posters will be available until the end of the Annual Meeting.

A particular highlight of the event comes in the form of an honorary reading on the Monday afternoon, which will see the Otfrid Foerster medal awarded to Professor Dr. Werner Hacke, Emeritus Ordinarius of Neurology at Heidelberg University.
The International Reception will take place on the Monday evening at the “Deutsches Filmmuseum” on the quays in Frankfurt am Main, allowing all of our Korean friends and a whole host of international guests to come together. The rather unusual approach to the film museum, the guided tour through the fascinating house, and the final get-together with a view over the Frankfurt skyline are sure to make for an unforgettable evening.

We are especially looking forward to this year’s gala evening at the 67^th Annual Meeting of our professional association, which will take place in the beautifully renovated “Palmengarten”, Frankfurt’s showcase event location.
This impressive atmosphere is sure to offer an informal yet stimulating evening together with good food and fine wine from the Rheingau district. This will all be accompanied by select excerpts from the “Deutschland, Deine Hessen” show by actor, cabaret artist and Frankfurt legend, Walter Renneisen. We hope to see large numbers of participants attend this evening, especially our younger colleagues.

Our aim for the 2016 Annual Meeting is to promote intensive scientific discourse and exciting, lively and memorable discussions in a friendly and collegial atmosphere.

We look forward to seeing you and will be delighted to welcome you to Frankfurt am Main!

Professor Dr. Volker Seifert
Congress President