Richard Koch (1882-1949) was one of the most important medical theoreticians and historians of the 20th century. He was in addition a co-founder of the Free Jewish School in Frankfurt am Main, which was established by Franz Rosenzweig. Koch's unfinished memoirs, published here for the first time, were written in Soviet emigration. Although they basically end in 1911, many of them are however written from the perspective of the experience of National Socialism. Remarks on Judaism and Germany's social position show Koch to be an acute observer of the events at that time. The particular significance of his memoirs lies in the description of medicine in a phase of reorientation. Koch studied and worked with some of the most influential and inventive clinicians of his time: Ernst [Schweninger{Schweninger, E.}, Ludolf von [Krehl and August Bier. The autobiographical notes document the study of these experiences against the backdrop of reflections on philosophy and medical theory and describe Koch's path to his theory of medicine.
