ENUrology clinics in Germany are the urology departments of university and other large hospitals, plus clinics specialising in urology, and they are best compared by how often they perform your operation. If you have been offered prostate, kidney or bladder surgery, look for a team that does it routinely; in Germany this can be checked in documents rather than reviews.
Below: how a urology department is organised, what lies behind the certificates, how a university hospital differs from a specialised clinic and what to ask before travelling, with no rankings and no promises about results. For the field as a whole, see urology treatment in Germany.
How a German urology department is organised
In a German hospital, urology is a department in its own right, the Klinik für Urologie, with its own operating theatre, endoscopy suite and outpatient clinic. It is led by a chief physician (Chefarzt) or clinic director, with senior physicians (Oberärzte) covering defined areas such as tumours, stones or incontinence. Urology is almost never dissolved inside general surgery.
There are three kinds of address: university hospitals with research and rare cases, maximum-care hospitals (Maximalversorgung) with high patient volume, and specialised urology clinics. No type is better by definition; what matters is what you face, whether a rare tumour, repeat surgery or a planned procedure. See also our page on hospitals in Germany.
On certificates: the German Cancer Society (Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft) certifies uro-oncology centres and, within them, prostate and bladder cancer centres; continence centres are certified by the German Continence Society (Deutsche Kontinenz Gesellschaft) with other medical societies. Behind a cancer certificate stand checkable requirements, not a title: operations per year for the centre and for each surgeon, and who must attend the weekly tumour board, all checked at an annual audit.
What these departments treat
These departments treat diseases of the kidneys, urinary tract, prostate and male reproductive organs. Excess tissue in benign prostate enlargement is removed endoscopically, by wire loop or laser, and inflammation and tumours are treated too; see prostate disease treatment. If a tumour is suspected, German guidelines provide for a prostate MRI, which helps avoid unnecessary biopsies; a suspicious area is then sampled using MRI images fused with ultrasound, a fusion biopsy.
Kidney and ureteric stones are broken up by shock waves from outside, removed endoscopically or extracted percutaneously, through a small puncture in the back; see kidney stone treatment in Germany. Bladder work covers tumours, chronic inflammation and emptying disorders, while incontinence and reconstructive surgery, including of the urethra, are a separate field.
For a kidney tumour, if size and position allow, only the tumour is removed and the organ is kept. Andrologists treat male infertility and hormonal disorders such as testosterone deficiency. Bring the complete imaging, the actual CT or MRI files rather than just reports; otherwise the consultation stays general.
Robotic and minimally invasive surgery
A robotic operation is minimally invasive surgery through small incisions, steered from a console: the system gives a magnified three-dimensional view and instruments that move freely in the narrow pelvis. It is used most often for nerve-sparing removal of the prostate (see prostate cancer treatment in Germany), bladder removal with a reservoir built from bowel, and organ-preserving kidney surgery. When prostate removal is indicated, and when surveillance or radiotherapy fits better, is covered by the European Association of Urology guidelines on prostate cancer.
More important than the machine is who sits at the console. Germany has a national training curriculum for console surgeons in robotic prostatectomy, run by the German Society for Robot-assisted Urology with the robotics working group of the German Society of Urology. And you can ask how many robotic operations your surgeon has done.
Hospitals and doctors we work with
Here are four partner departments of AlenMed, as examples rather than a ranking. University Hospital Essen has 1,300 beds; its department of urology is led by Professor Boris Hadaschik, who also heads the uro-oncology centre and is deputy director of the West German Cancer Centre.
At TUM Klinikum rechts der Isar in Munich, urology is led by Professor Jürgen Gschwend, head of the ProstaTUM prostate centre, the bladder cancer centre and the uro-oncology centre; his fields include nerve-sparing removal of the prostate and bladder, with a new bladder built from small intestine.
The Urology Clinic Munich-Planegg is a highly specialised clinic for all urological conditions, certified by the German Cancer Society as a uro-oncology centre and equipped with two da Vinci robotic systems. Both chief physicians belong to its management: Professor Maximilian Kriegmair, whose work includes robotic surgery, nerve-sparing prostatectomy, holmium laser enucleation of the prostate and organ-preserving kidney surgery, and Professor Martin Kriegmair, chief physician since 2002 and president of the German Society of Urology in 2023. At University Hospital Leipzig, urology is headed by Professor Jens-Uwe Stolzenburg.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a urology clinic in Germany?
Choose by experience with your particular operation, not by fame. Ask how many such procedures the department and your surgeon perform per year, and whether the centre holds a German Cancer Society certificate if a tumour is involved. With several conditions or repeat surgery, a university hospital with other specialists on site is the logical choice.
What should I ask a urology department before travelling?
Ask who will operate, by which approach and what the estimate covers. Find out why open, laparoscopic or robotic surgery was chosen, how long the hospital stay usually lasts and which costs are excluded. Also ask about aftercare: which check-ups you will need at home and whom to contact.
Does urological surgery have to be robotic?
No: the robot is one approach, not a condition for a good operation. Prostate, bladder and kidney procedures can also be done as open or laparoscopic surgery; the choice depends on the disease, your anatomy, previous operations and the surgeon’s experience with each approach. Ask why this option is proposed for you.
How AlenMed matches a patient to a hospital
Matching starts with your records: discharge summaries, laboratory and biopsy results, and DICOM imaging. They go to two or three urology departments; each reply says what is proposed and by which approach, and the visa invitation letter comes with the cost estimate.
AlenMed works with 86 partner hospitals in 38 cities and 345 doctors; the company office is in Munich. A coordinator books appointments, interprets at consultations and collects the discharge summary, pathology report and follow-up plan for your urologist at home.
This material is for information only and is not an offer. Treatment tactics are decided by a doctor at a face-to-face examination.