Remembering Harald Tscherne, a pioneer of modern trauma care
November 3, 2026
The AO mourns the passing of Professor Harald Tscherne, a pioneering trauma surgeon, respected teacher, and longstanding member of the international AO community. Through his clinical and scientific contributions, his leadership, and his commitment to developing the next generation of surgeons, he helped shape modern trauma care and leaves a legacy that reaches far beyond the institutions he led.
Born in Graz, Austria, in 1933, Tscherne went on to become one of the most influential figures in modern trauma surgery. In 1970, he became director of the trauma department at Hannover Medical School (MHH), where he developed an internationally recognized center for the treatment of severely injured patients and the organization of trauma care.
At MHH, Tscherne looked beyond the treatment of individual injuries to the wider continuum of trauma care. He established multidisciplinary teams to support continuity of patient care and helped develop external rescue teams using ambulance and helicopter services. In cooperation with the Technical University of Berlin, he also founded accident research at MHH.
His name became particularly associated with the assessment of soft-tissue injury accompanying fractures. The Tscherne classification of closed fractures provided a systematic approach to evaluating this damage, and his work continues to inform clinical practice. His contribution to soft-tissue injury classification is recognized in the AO’s history as a milestone in the development of fracture care.
Tscherne’s influence extended well beyond his own clinical and scientific work. The trauma center he developed in Hannover attracted surgeons from around the world, who came to learn not only treatment techniques but also approaches to organizing trauma care. Many of his trainees went on to lead clinics and academic departments, carrying his knowledge and influence to subsequent generations of trauma surgeons.
Harald Tscherne is the father of modern trauma surgery. He trained countless surgeons and influenced almost every trauma surgeon worldwide. A magnificent human being, surgeon, and friend.
Norbert P Haas
AO Past President
Professor and Director Emeritus, Centre for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Tscherne also took on important leadership roles within the international trauma community. He served as president of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie (DGU) in 1979 and as president of the European Society for Trauma and Emergency Surgery in 2000. The DGU later named him an honorary member and, in 2022, established the annual Harald Tscherne Honorary Lecture at the DKOU in Berlin in recognition of his contributions to trauma surgery.
Tscherne shared a longstanding connection with AO co-founder Maurice Müller and was closely involved in the development of the AO community in Austria. An initiator and founding member of AO Austria in 1969, Tscherne took part the following year in the first AO Course in Austria, held in Bad Gleichenberg, together with Müller. This early involvement grew into decades of engagement with the AO. His work on soft-tissue injury became part of the body of knowledge reflected in AO fracture care, and his involvement extended into the AO’s international Trustee community. He was later recognized as an AO Honorary Trustee.
Throughout his career, Tscherne combined clinical excellence and scientific curiosity with a deep commitment to improving the way trauma care was delivered. His legacy can be found in the greater attention given to soft-tissue injury, in the systems developed for the care of severely injured patients, and in the many surgeons and clinical leaders shaped by his teaching.
The AO extends its deepest condolences to Professor Tscherne’s family, friends, colleagues, former trainees, and the international trauma community.
Additional personal tributes from colleagues and former trainees can be found below.
Tributes
Harald Tscherne was my teacher, mentor, partner, and friend, and accompanied and influenced me for more than 43 years. His clear principles, often expressed in just a few words, led to improvements in treatment concepts that were in some cases revolutionary.
His firm conviction that the patient and the patient’s family must always, without compromise, be at the center of everything we do shaped generations of surgeons and helped bring about a cultural change. Especially in surgery, he believed that working together was better than working against one another. This was the foundation of what was, at the time, the revolutionary concept of a surgical center, offering patients the best possible interdisciplinary treatment from recognized specialists.
Despite his outstanding reputation and numerous honors, Harald remained modest, understated, and deeply connected to those around him. He was a true role model professionally and academically and, personally, became a good friend.
We have all lost a great visionary and a remarkable person, and a dear friend. We share our grief with Elke, his beloved wife, who always looked after and cared for us, and with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
His legacy lives on through his students and the Tscherne school of trauma surgery, now into its second and third generations.
I will not forget him.
Tim Pohlemann
AO Immediate Past President
Professor Emeritus of Trauma Surgery, Saarland University, Germany
With great sadness I learned that Harald Tscherne has passed. He was my teacher at Hannover Medical School (MHH), and we had a close cooperation for 17 years. Harald was not only a great visioner, organizer, and department leader, but he also was a true doctor, always caring about our patients and their needs. One of his mantras was ‘we can get better in patient care every day,’ and this is a guideline which I follow until today treating orthopedic patients. I will keep greatest respect for a true surgeon and patients’ doctor, whom I had the privilege to learn from.
Philipp Lobenhoffer
Past Chairman, Joint Preservation Expert Group, AO Technical Commission; past ex-officio AO Trustee
Professor of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery
Over 25 years ago, through the AO Jack McDaniel Memorial Fellowship, I had the great fortune of being accepted into the Trauma Department at the Hannover School of Medicine, led by Professor Tscherne. My six weeks on that rotation would go on to change the trajectory of my entire career and that of countless others who would work in our group here at the University of California, San Francisco, and at the city’s trauma center, San Francisco General Hospital. Through my stay in Hannover, I brought with me concepts I learned from him and his group that were far ahead of their time, including cutting-edge, minimally invasive fracture stabilization techniques, multispecialty trauma surgeons, multi-team trauma coverage, and international networking. I met surgeon-leaders who would go on to influence not only the direction of orthopedic trauma care in Germany, but also globally through the AO network and international academic societies. There isn’t a day that goes by in my professional life that hasn’t been affected in some way by Professor Tscherne and his family of surgeons.
Theodore Miclau, MD
AO Trustee
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco
Director, Orthopaedic Trauma Institute