Our research group has reconstructed why the board certified urologists Werner Forssmann (1904-1979) and Charles Huggins (1901-1997) received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine (1956, and 1966, respectively). But the history of "Urology and the Nobel Prize" is in fact more multifaceted than the success stories of these two laureates suggest. James Israel (1848-1926), Berlin, Félix Guyon (1831-1920), Paris, Peter J. Freyer (1852-1921), London and Edwin Beer (1876-1938), New York were nominated for the award during the first three decades of the 20th century. Their candidacies mirror trends among leading urologists during the time when urology became a specialty in its own right.