At the 134th Annual Meeting of the Society of German Naturalists and Physicians (GDNÄ) in Bremen, the Alexander von Humboldt Medal was awarded to Professor Martin Lohse. He receives the award in recognition of his outstanding commitment as President and a member of the Executive Board of the GDNÄ.

During the opening session of the 134th Assembly of the Society of German Naturalists and Physicians (GDNÄ) on 18 September 2026 at the Congress Centrum Bremen, Professor Martin Lohse was honoured with the Alexander von Humboldt Medal. As GDNÄ President from 2019 to 2022, Martin Lohse led the natural history society through the difficult years of the pandemic and was responsible for the 200th-anniversary celebrations in Leipzig. In his laudatory speech, GDNÄ Vice-President Heribert Hofer highlighted the award winner’s outstanding achievements: “Martin Lohse led the GDNÄ with great passion for four years and played a key role in the magnificent 200th-anniversary celebrations in Leipzig,” said Heribert Hofer.

Furthermore, the award winner had served the GDNÄ for many years as Vice-President and a member of the Executive Board. Martin Lohse is the editor of the GDNÄ commemorative publication in book form, *Wenn der Funke überspringt* (*When the Spark Ignites*), which Hofer recommended to the audience as a scientific overview accessible to a general audience. The laudator paid tribute to the outstanding academic career of the pharmacologist Martin Lohse and his services as Vice-President of the Leopoldina, for which he and a team of scientists drafted the politically decisive position paper ‘Clean Air’ in 2019. In his acceptance speech, the award winner recalled Lorenz Oken, the co-founder of the GDNÄ, who enriched science two hundred years ago with fresh, unconventional ideas.

© MIKA-fotografie | Berlin

Martin Lohse with the certificate for the GDNÄ’s Alexander von Humboldt Prize. To his left: GDNÄ President Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla; to his right, GDNÄ Vice-President Professor Heribert Hofer (with the medal).

About the award

The Alexander von Humboldt Medal honours individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the further development of the Society of German Naturalists and Physicians. The medal commemorates the great naturalist and cosmopolitan Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), who played a decisive role in the early development of the GDNÄ. Since 2010, the medal has been awarded every two years.