[Martin Kirschner on the occasion of his 100th birthday (author's transl)].

This paper is dedicated to Martin Kirschner one of the outstanding German surgeons of the first half of this century. Many of the inventions and improvements Kirschner made have stood the test of time till today. It was Kirschner who recommended to stretch the stomach for replacing the oesophagus. He practiced for the first time successfully an embolectomy out of the pulmonary artery (1924!). Kirschner improved the wire traction procedure decisevely. Of the same importance is his literary work.