Since the first edition of the HPLC congress in 1973 in Interlaken, the HPLC meeting has been organized three times in Germany.

 

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1983:  Baden-Baden, Chair: Klaus Peter Hupe

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In 1983, the 7th symposium of the series was run under the name "International Symposium on Column Liquid Chromatography" and was organized by Klaus Peter Hupe under the auspices of the Working Group Chromatography of the Division Analytical Chemistry of GDCh. The conference took place in Baden-Baden with 650 participants from 28 nations. In total 160 papers were presented in lectures and poster sessions. Proceedings have been published in J. Chromatogr.  and can be found under the link http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00219673/282

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It is fantastic to see that a paper by Dewaele and Verzele already discussed the use of 2 µm silica-based C18 columns at that time showing all the advantages of such small particles. It indicates that HPLC symposia were always featuring highest level research and pioneering work in the field of chromatographic separations.

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1993:  Hamburg, Chair: Klaus K. Unger

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The 17th "International Symposium on Column Liquid Chromatography" was organized by Klaus K. Unger. It took place in Hamburg and was attended by 810 delegates from about 40 countries. The format still differed a little bit from today's HPLC meetings. 22 plenary lectures, 40 discussion lectures in 2 parallel sessions, and 450 posters were presented. Debates were integral part of the conference and such discussions could get quite emotional on science in those days. A remarkable number of 72 exhibitors displayed their latest innovations.

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2009:  Dresden, Chair: Christian G. Huber

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The HPLC meeting in 2009, organized by Christian G. Huber in Dresden, is not too long ago and still in our memory. Although an economic crisis struggled Europe and the entire world, 1240 delegates from 51 countries were attending the conference and 64 exhibitors showcased their products. The program featured 8 plenary lectures, 30 keynote lectures, 90 oral presentations, 9 tutorials (in total 137 lectures) and 620 posters. The power of LC-MS in various fields was a dominating theme.