The Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations, is set in the grounds of the St. Georg Hospital in Hamburg (now Asklepios Klinik St. Georg). It is dedicated to those scientific and healthcare professionals who lost their lives through radiation exposure in the early years following the discovery of x-rays and radium.
The inscription on the original tall commemorative stone states that the Monument is dedicated to “The Röntgenologists and radiologists of all nations, to the doctors, physicists, chemists, technicians, laboratory assistants and nurses who sacrificed their lives in the fight against disease. They were valiant pioneers in the effective and safe use of x-rays and radium in medicine. Immortal is the glory of the work of the dead.” The dedication uses the term “Röntgenologist”, an early term for radiologist, which acknowledges Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays in 1895.
At the time of its inauguration in 1936, the monument bore 169 names. By 1959, there were 359, and a further four stone plaques had been placed around the original stele. The Monument also stands as a reminder that we owe our modern radiation protection standards to the sacrifices of these early pioneers of diagnostic radiology.
- Photos by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (July 2025) and page layout by Maria Sofia Sgreccia ti.supmacla|aiccergs.sm#| (November 2025)
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