The routine use of cystoscope initiated the development of the modern urology. Otto Kneise (1875-1953) extended the targets of cystoscopy by including examinations of the male bladder and prostate. He achieved the goal that "cystoscopy is part of general work in urology and not a pure gynecological act". He, thus, founded the specialty gynecological urology in the field urology, which prevented it from becoming an independent field. Under the leadership of Otto Kneise, the first independent urology department in Germany was created in the hospital Heilanstalt Weidenplan.

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The nowadays generally forgotten Klinik am Weidenplan in Halle/Saale was a pioneering site in German urology. It was mainly shaped by Otto Kneise and Martin Stolze. Starting from a private department the clinic developed into a large urological hospital. In the nearly 100 years of its existence, numerous famous expert representatives emerged from it. In 1958, Martin Stolze became the first tenured professor for urology in the then DDR (German Democratic Republic) and shortly afterwards the Weidenplanklinik temporarily was a university clinic for urology in Germany.