Rudolf Frey, known as “Rolf“ in Europe and “Rudi” in America — a leading star of anesthesiology, emergency medicine and disaster medicine — has ended his life's struggles. He influenced many lives positively. His years were rich with experiences and contributions.

Surgery and anesthesiology were his base specialties. Alone, these fields would have been too narrow for him. He initiated the first professorship of anesthesiology in Germany at the University of Heidelberg in the 1950's; the first autonomous university department of anesthesiology in Germany at the Gutenberg University of Mainz in 1960; the journal Der Anaesthesist, the first textbook of anesthesiology in German; one of the first physician-staffed advanced life support ambulance and ambulance helicopter services in Europe; numerous training programs, symposia and congresses; and the Club of Mainz and its associated monograph series Disaster Medicine, originally published by Springer-Verlag.