Those who know me know that I am a bit of a history buff and have a particular interest in the history of the College and cardiology as a whole. Dr. Berndt Lüderitz, Dr. David Holmes and I recently published an article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology about the history of the German Cardiac Society (GCS) and the ACC.

Those who don’t know the story of how the College was founded, the article is definitely worth a read (it’s short and sweet, I promise!) Here is the “Cliffs notes” version:

Physicians interested in the heart and circulation at the beginning of the 20th century were classified as internal medicine specialists because cardiology had not yet evolved as a subspecialty. In 1927 the German Cardiac Society was founded by Dr. Bruno Kisch and Professor Arthur Weber during a seminar on cardiac arrhythmias. The whole process of launching the society took under 3 minutes as the seminar participants were so surprised by the announcement that no one even thought of objecting. Thus, the German Society for Circulation Research (now the GCS) was formed.

One of the key players to the creation of the GCS was Professor Franz Maximilian Groedel. He was considered to be Jewish because of his mother’s religious background, so he fled Germany and came to the U.S. in 1933 when Adolf Hitler assumed power. He became a well-established heart specialist in New York City and his patients included President Franklin Roosevelt, who, because of his polio, was interested in Groedel’s spa system.

Groedel also became active in the New York Cardiological Society and was named president in 1945. Groedel and Kisch (who had also fled Germany and the Nazi regime in 1938) together created the ACC on November 28, 1949. Their intent was to form a new professional society dedicated to the practicing physician, and a group of trustees of the New York Cardiological Society who supported Groedel became the founding trustees of the college. All recognized and certified cardiologists were invited to apply for membership. In 1951 Groedel and Kisch were preparing for the first ACC annual meeting, when unfortunately due to a fatal accident Groedel passed away before the meeting took place. Kisch succeeded him as president and the meeting was a major success with 275 attendees.

The German vision and approach to practice and research and education was transferred to the ACC and resulted in objectives that were nearly identical between the two societies. The circle is in many ways now complete, in that Germans brought the vision to begin and grow the ACC, and now the ACC grows internationally, with a German chapter as well as other international partners.

Dr. Simon Dack, ACC past President, once said, “Both Franz Groedel and Bruno Kisch … would be very proud if they were alive to see the fulfillment of their visions and dreams that led to the birth of the College in 1949 – it is ironic that their ‘dreadful years in Germany’ and their loss to German Cardiology helped to contribute to advances in American and International cardiology.”

As we gear up for the 62nd Annual Scientific Session and welcome the next class of esteemed Fellows and Associates to the College, it’s an opportune time to remember and celebrate our incredible history. I honor the visionary leaders of the ACC who inspire us to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. Bernard of Chartres said “that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness on sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.”