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© 2023 The Authors. Société Internationale d'Urologie Journal, published by the Société Internationale d'Urologie, Canada.

SIUJ.ORG SIUJ  •  Volume 4, Number 1  •  January 2023

Rudolf Hohenfellner, or Rudy, as he is called by all his 
friends around the world, grew up in Austria, where, 
at the age of 16, he had the terrible experience of being 
conscripted for the last years of World War II.

He studied medicine in Vienna and started his train-
ing in the legendary Vienna Surgery, established by the 
famous Theodor Billroth, and then specialized in urol-
ogy. During residency, he already showed a strong curi-
osity for external input and traveled to Paris to work 
with urologists like René Küss and Roger Couvelaire and 
to Munich to learn the new technique of transurethral 
resection of the prostate from Wolfgang Mauermayer 
and Ferdinand May.

It was not until 1962 that the first academic chair 
of urology was created in Vienna under the direction 
of Richard Übelhör, where Rudy worked as a senior 
physician until 1964. He then moved to the Urological 
University Clinic in Homburg/Saar as junior faculty 
to Professor C.E. Alken, the doyen of German urol-
ogy and then the only chair of urology in Germany.  
At t hat time, urolog y as a specia lt y was usua lly 
under the difficult umbrella of general surgery, and 
the establishment of urology at German universities 
started from Homburg/Saar.

Rudy then moved to the newly created urologic chair 
at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz  in 1967 and 
retained this position for almost 30 years until his retire-
ment in 1996, turning down various other chairman-
ships including in Vienna and Zurich.

Under his leadership, Mainz quickly became the 
premier address for excellent clinical surgical urologi-
cal education in Germany. Rudy always saw the art and 
craft of operative urology as the central building block 
for the successful advancement of our specialty.

He traveled the world in search of new directions and 
advances in urology and found many friendly colleagues 
who subsequently came to Mainz as visiting profes-
sors to share their knowledge with us. The clinic had a 
clear international focus: staff meetings, grand rounds, 

Dr. Rudolf Hohenfellner, a giant in urology 

laboratory years for residents abroad, mostly in the  
United  States, and journal clubs. This at a time when 
medical training was otherwise rather antiquated and 
boring. Rudy introduced 3-day assessment centers 
for new residents, probably before the term was even 
invented, and in these 3 days, the applicants not only got 
to know the clinic, residents, and faculty, but Rudy with 
his enormous knowledge of human nature got a feel for 
whether the newcomer would fit into the team at Mainz.

We as his students especially remember Rudy's 
annual return from the meeting of the GUSurgeons, 
which gave us new ideas, inspiration, and work that he 
distributed among his fellow staff members as projects. 
He truly and selflessly enjoyed it when he saw co-work-
ers rise and prove themselves at international congresses 
and thus also increase the reputation of Mainz Urology.

Rudy delegated responsibility to his staff very early 
on. He was indeed a mentor and enabler in the best 

Rudolf Hohenfellner, Chairman,  
Department of Urology, Johannes Gutenberg 
University, Mainz, Germany, 1967 to 1996
Jan Fichtner,1 Margit Fisch2

1 Klinik für Urologie, Johanniter Krankenhaus Oberhausen, Germany 2 University Medical Centre Eppendorf, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Soc Int Urol J. 2023;4(1):67–68 
DOI: 10.48083/HTGY4912

67

GIANTS IN UROLOGY

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sense, stepping back himself to further the careers of 
others. He was extraordinarily successful with this 
method: more than 50 chair positions were filled from 
Mainz under his aegis.

“The Mainzers” were not always viewed positively 
from the outside, but sometimes with envy and resent-
ment, not only because they were lucky enough to work 
at this excellent instituion, but also because they were 
sometimes endowed with a certain arrogance. This 
culminated in difficult situations in the operating room 
when Rudy had the Austrian song “Schickeria” played, 
the lyrics go something like this: “It must be something 
special, they don’t let people like you and me in, every-
one plays a superstar, and sip champagne at the bar…”

Nothing was a problem for Rudy, and he even enjoyed 
swimming against the tide. This willingness, along 
with creativity and drive for innovation enabled the 
achievement of milestones in Mainz Urology, such as 
the development of percutaneous nephrolithotomy, the 
Lithostar for extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy, the 

Mainz pouch for orthotopic and heterotopic urinary 
diversion, the introduction of nephron-sparing surgery,  
and the introduction of buccal mucosa for urethral 
reconstruction.

Rudy was president of both the German Society of 
Urology and the SIU, and he received numerous awards 
and prizes and was pleased with each one, but the most 
joyful thing for him in his humble way was to see one of 
his colleagues succeed.

Rudy also liked to push the limits in his private life: 
serious mountaineering, heliskiing, flying, and traveling 
all over the world. Rudy was never about luxury here, but 
about frontier experiences, and he would trade a luxury 
hotel for a lonely mountain cabin any day.

Now in his early nineties, he participates actively in the 
evolution of his much-loved urology. Mountaineers have 
a saying that the look back to the conquered summit in 
the evening twilight is the most beautiful thing and we 
wish Rudy many more years to enjoy this.

68 SIUJ  •  Volume 4, Number 1  •  January 2023 SIUJ.ORG

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