The German Cancer Research Center was founded a full 60 years ago. On January 28, 1964, the state government of Baden-Württemberg established the public-law "German Cancer Research Center Foundation in Heidelberg". This decision was announced in the February 14, 1964 edition of the Baden-Württemberg Law Gazette. On October 31, 1964, the DKFZ headquarters in Neuenheimer Feld was inaugurated.
A lot has happened since then: In 1964, the DKFZ still had 49 employees, 17 of whom were scientists, and was limited to Heidelberg; today it has almost 3,500 employees, including around 1,500 scientists, at numerous locations throughout Germany.
Over the past 60 years, the DKFZ has developed into the largest biomedical research institution in Germany and the largest cancer research center in Europe.
