[Athanasius Kircher (1602-1690) and the medical-natural science concepts of his time].

The 300th anniversary of Athanasius Kircher's death gives rise to the memory of the work of this researcher. Kircher is grounded in history of medicine above all by his contribution to microscopic anatomy. A new theory of the genesis of infectious diseases goes back to him. Owing to Athanasius Kircher who also in other fields of medicine (audiology) strove for improvements the scientific public took an exacter knowledge of the Chinese medicine and natural science. Contributions in nearly all fields of the applied natural sciences secure Kircher an honorable memory in our time.