Charité - University Medicine Berlin 

The various buildings of the Berlin University Clinic (known as Charité) are spread all over Berlin and form an institution with an eventful and exciting history of almost 300 years: From small huts without running water at the city gates to one of the largest and leading medical institutions in Europe. The clinic was originally founded in 1710 to forestall the impending plague epidemic. But the plague never came to Berlin and the clinic could be used to treat poor and illegitimate mothers. The campus with the clearly visible high-rise, which is now in the very center of Berlin, was still outside the city walls at the time. 

The Charité then turned into a military hospital for the Prussian army (to train military doctors) and quickly developed into one of the largest hospitals of its kind.  As a “military academy”, it made it possible for poor students to study medicine free of charge and enabled so many students to get an education, some became pioneers in medicine (e.g. Rudolf Virchow or Emil von Behring). Due to the Charité's excellent reputation, the institutes of the city clinic gradually moved into the Charité between 1828 and 1927, and after the Second World War the Charité became a university clinic entirely. 

 After the turnaround and the merger with the Rudolf Virchow Clinic and the Benjamin Franklin University Clinic of the Free University of Berlin, the Charité became the largest European university clinic.