The German-Polish Friendship Circle of Orthopedics and Trauma was established in 1995 in Germany, originally called "the Friendship Circle of the Polish Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology". The founders of the Circle were Prof. Johannes Breitenfelder (Brakel/Westfalen), dr.Barbara Czernicka and dr. Jacek Czernicki (Munich), prof. Jörg Gekeler (Sindelfingen), dr. Michał von Grabowski (Illingen/Saar) with wife Vilia, prof. Hans-Rudolf Henche (Rheinfelden), dr. Rutger Hundt (Baden-Baden), prof. Günter Janssen, doc. dr. Eberhard Knöfler (Erfurt), dr. Burkhard Maaz (Meerbusch), prof. Michael Menge (Ludwigshafen) prof. Heinz Mittelmeier (Homburg/Saar), prof. Wolfram Neumann (Magdeburg) prof. Witold Ramotowski (Warsaw), dr. Andreas Rat (Münchberg), prof. Lothar Rabenseifner (Offenburg), prof. Engelbert Seeber (Dessau) and dr. Klaus-Dieter Wessels. According to the first charter of the Circle, its main tasks were to establish and develop contacts between German and Polish orthopedists, to promote the development of Polish orthopedics and traumatology and related medical fields, to enable the training of Polish doctors in leading German clinics, to support their scientific research and organization of joint scientific conferences and training sessions-the first four were held biannually in Poland. Since 2004, they have been organized annually, alternately in Poland and Germany.