History of Legal Medicine, personalities with remarkable contributions to the development of Legal Medicine:

• Decree issued by the Empress Maria Theresa in 1770: corpses could be inspected only by a doctor
• Johann Peter Frank, who held lectures about forensic medicine and medical police in Pavia, was called in 1795 to Vienna; he is the author of the forensic medicine book: "System einer vollstaendingen medizinischen Polizei"
• Joseph Bernt, author of the "Systematic manual of forensic medicine"
• Eduard von Hoffmann started his activity in Innsbruck; he became famous for providing unequivocal evidence in the case of an accident, that a woman had, in fact, been pushed into an abyss by her husband. Hoffmann established that the hair found in the woman's hand belonged to her husband.

Affiliation of Legal Medicine: only related to Universities

No. of forensic pathologists: 35

Specialization: 6 years

Activity: forensic autopsies, clinical examination of victims of sexual assault, forensic toxicology, DNA.

University Legal Medicine education: legal medicine is compulsory discipline for medical students and optional for law students. Teaching in modules, legal medicine information period corresponds to weekly 1 hour lecture and 1 hour practice, for half-year.

INSTITUTES OF LEGAL MEDICINE IN AUSTRIA:

1. GRAZ - Institut für Gerichtliche Medizin der Medizinischen Universität
2. INNSBRUCK - Institut für Gerichtliche Medizin der Medizinischen Universität
3. SALZBURG-LINZ - Institut für Gerichtliche Medizin der Paris-Lodron-Universität
4. WIEN - Department für Gerichtliche Medizin der Medizinischen Universität

Information on this page was partly provided by courtesy of Dr. Mario Darok, Uni Graz.