Donald Munro 
Altstadt Heidelberg, Thursday 21 February 2013: Prof Gerd Auffarth gave a lively talk to a full audience in a church hall here, on the Mythos Albert Schweitzer. Not only talking about Schweitzer, the man, but of Prof. Auffarth’s memories of his own challenging experiences in the 1990s while working as a young surgeon at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon.
The Legend
Albert Schweitzer (1875 – 1965) was multi-talented: a theologian, a doctor of medicine, a church organist, philosopher, pacifist and a philanthropist. Prof. Auffarth told of how, while still at High School, he had read of the great man and was fascinated by how Schweitzer had built a hospital in the jungle in West Africa and how Schweitzer had treated malaria patients and lepers. Schweitzer committed his life to this work. Schweitzer received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to philosophy. He did not retire to Europe but died at the hospital aged 90, and he is buried there.
Auffarth: “Schweitzer’s philosophy of Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben (“Reverence for Life“) may be expressed in many ways. The best example from Schweitzer’s own life is how he built and maintained his hospital in Lambaréné. We must keep these ideals in mind as we build and develop the David Apple Laboratory here in Heidelberg.”
Further Reading
Albert Schweitzer entry in Wikipedia
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