After 18 years of service, Prof. Michael Meurer (Fig. 1) will resign from his position as editor and continuing medical education (CME) column editor of the journal Der Hautarzt as of October 1, 2020.

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Prof. Dr. Michael Meurer

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With the restructuring of the journal in 2002, the editorial board was reorganized and the team of seven editors shaped the face of the journal and its orientation in the years that followed. The editorial board consisting of Prof. Michael Jünger, Prof. Alexander Kapp, Prof. Roland Kaufmann (since 2010), Prof. Jean Krutmann, Prof. Hans F. Merk, Prof. Michael Meurer, Prof. Thomas Ruzicka, and Prof. Hans F. Merk. Wolfgang Tilgen (until 2009) ensured that Der Hautarzt was able to expand its position as an important communication forum for German-speaking dermatologists. Moreover, its profile as an important, popular journal for continuing education and training was further sharpened, among other things, by the main topic issues.

In the anniversary editorial 2009, Michael Meurer wrote: “It seemed important to us all from the very beginning to continue the tradition of Der Hautarzt, founded by Alfred Marchionini and confidently continued by great dermatological teachers such as Otto Braun-Falco, Gerd Plewig, Günther Burg, Detlef Petzoldt, Urs Schnyder, Theo Nasemann, Klaus Wolff, Eva-Bettina Bröcker, and Peter Fritsch, in a renewed form adapted to the current needs of further education and training in our department” [1]. The seven-strong team of editors undoubtedly succeeded in this.

Michael Meurer, born in Dresden, studied human medicine in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Innsbruck, Heidelberg, and Munich. After stations in internal medicine and surgery, he began his dermatological career as a German Research Foundation (DFG) scholarship holder at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and in the Department of Dermatology, New York University Medical Center. After many years as a dermatologist and university lecturer at the Dermatological Clinic and Polyclinic of the LMU Munich under Otto Braun-Falco, he was appointed to the Chair of Dermatology at the Carl Gustav Carus Medical Faculty of the TU Dresden in 1997, heading the clinic until 2009 and the interdisciplinary University Allergy Center he founded there until 2012. He continues to be active as Chairman of the Foundation for the Promotion of University Medicine Dresden and works regularly as a dermatologist in Dubai.

Springer and the journal’s editorial team would like to thank Michael Meurer very much for the trustful cooperation, which has always been characterized by appreciation. In the 18 years of his service, he has not only written and reviewed numerous articles, but also coordinated a large number of key issues as the journal’s editor. During his tenure as CME column editor, Prof. Michael Meurer supervised no less than 212 CME articles. He has always performed his function as editor with joy, style, objectivity, and great reliability. Whenever he was asked for advice at short notice, his colleagues and the editorial staff could always rely on his critical, well-considered assessment, not to mention the occasions when he stepped in to save a CME or main topic issue article when an author dropped out at short notice.

Michael Meurer was very concerned about the next generation of dermatologists, and thus published the column CME. Zertifizierte Fortbildung (“CME. Certified training”) with great commitment and vision from the beginning. He never lost sight of the column’s objectives. His great network and broad-based knowledge were invaluable here. Even for the special issues Facharzt-Training Dermatologie (“Specialist training in dermatology”), Michael Meurer did not have to be asked for long: he was immediately enthusiastic about the concept and on board as author. One could be sure that his contributions were always excellently written and prepared.

The editors, the editorial board, and the publishing house would like to thank Prof. Meurer for many years of successful, enriching collaboration and for his services to the journal.

With best wishes for the coming years,

The editors and CME section editors of Der Hautarzt

The Editorial Team of Der Hautarzt