About Die Pneumologie

Die Pneumologie

Die Pneumologie is a German-language specialist journal for pulmonology, published by Springer Medizin in Berlin. It was formerly published under the title Der Pneumologe and now appears under the official title Zeitschrift für Pneumologie (vormals Der Pneumologe), following the publisher's broad gender-inclusivity initiative that replaced titles based on male professional designations with discipline-based titles. The journal appears six times a year and offers practice-oriented, interdisciplinary continuing education for pneumologists, internists, and general practitioners. Recent issues have addressed pleural diseases and the new German guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of cough in adult patients, illustrating the journal's dual commitment to interdisciplinary clinical topics and to the guidelines that standardize respiratory care across Germany.

Overview

Die Pneumologie, published under the current title Zeitschrift für Pneumologie, is a continuing-education journal for respiratory medicine. It appears six times a year, with each issue built around a lead theme presented in a practice-oriented and interdisciplinary manner. Recent issues illustrate the concept: issue 2/2026 addressed pleural diseases, presenting the systematic workup of pleural effusion, the differential diagnosis of chronic pleuritis, the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of pleural empyema from a surgical perspective, and a current overview of pleural mesothelioma. Issue 1/2026 was devoted to cough, working through the new German specialist guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of cough in adult patients, with guideline-group authors covering the diagnosis and treatment of acute cough, the management of chronic cough, the clinically relevant connection between gastro-oesophageal reflux and cough, and the upper airway cough syndrome.

The journal serves pneumologists in hospitals and private practice as well as internists and general practitioners who treat respiratory diseases. Its content combines lead-theme reviews with guideline-based continuing education, keeping readers current with the diagnostic and therapeutic standards of respiratory medicine. The six-issues-per-year rhythm allows each lead theme the space of a full issue while keeping the journal close to clinical developments and new guidelines.

History

The journal was founded as Der Pneumologe within the Springer Medizin portfolio, serving the continuing-education needs of German pneumologists in hospitals and private practice. Over the years it has accompanied the specialty's development, from advances in bronchoscopy and lung-function diagnostics to the modern management of COPD, asthma, and interstitial lung diseases. It was renamed as part of Springer Medizin's sweeping equality initiative, in which titles based on male professional designations were replaced with new titles based on the medical disciplines. Unusually among the renamed titles, it did not become "Die Pneumologie" but received the title Zeitschrift für Pneumologie, with the former title Der Pneumologe retained in parentheses as "vormals Der Pneumologe" to preserve continuity for readers, authors, and librarians, a solution that acknowledges the journal's established identity while meeting the initiative's goals.

The rename followed the same wave that turned Der Anaesthesist into Die Anaesthesiologie, Der Chirurg into Die Chirurgie, Der Internist into Die Innere Medizin, Der Gynäkologe into Die Gynäkologie, Der Hautarzt into Die Dermatologie, Der Onkologe into Die Onkologie, Der Diabetologe into Die Diabetologie, Der Ophthalmologe into Die Ophthalmologie, Der Orthopäde into Die Orthopädie, Der Pathologe into Die Pathologie, Der Unfallchirurg into Die Unfallchirurgie, and Der Urologe into Die Urologie. The continuity of the journal was preserved, with its volume numbering, issue rhythm, and editorial concept carried forward under the new title, so that citations and library holdings remain unbroken.

The journal has documented the specialty's development, including the growing importance of interdisciplinary cooperation in respiratory medicine, as illustrated by its pleural-diseases issue, which brought together internal-medicine and surgical perspectives on diseases treated by several specialties. Its coverage of new guidelines, such as the cough guideline developed by a multiprofessional guideline group, positions the journal as a bridge between guideline development and clinical practice.

Coverage and Content

The journal covers the full spectrum of pulmonology: asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary hypertension, bronchial carcinoma, pulmonary emphysema, pleuritis, pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pleural effusion, sleep apnoea syndrome, pulmonary embolism, and interstitial lung diseases. Each issue is built around a lead theme, with comprehensive, practice-oriented articles that address the diagnostic and therapeutic questions of daily practice, from the systematic workup of a clinical finding to the differential diagnosis and the choice of therapy.

The journal's coverage reflects the interdisciplinary character of modern respiratory medicine: pleural diseases, for example, are treated by several specialties, and the journal presents the systematic workup and differential diagnosis from both internal-medicine and surgical perspectives. The pleura reacts to many local and systemic diseases, producing a broad spectrum of conditions that must be managed across disciplines, and the journal's lead-theme issues reflect this reality by bringing the relevant specialties together in one issue. Guideline-based content, such as the cough issue built on the new German specialist guideline, keeps the journal close to the standards that govern clinical practice. In that issue, four authors from the guideline group worked through the essential points: the diagnosis and treatment of acute cough, the management of chronic cough, the clinically relevant connection between gastro-oesophageal reflux and cough, and the upper airway cough syndrome, giving readers a compact, authoritative summary of the guideline's core recommendations.

The journal serves both the scientific exchange and the continuing education of pneumologists, combining the functions of a scholarly journal with those of a professional training medium. Its practice-oriented approach distinguishes it from primary research journals in the field, and its lead-theme structure makes each issue a focused resource on a current question of respiratory practice.

Organization and Ownership

Die Pneumologie, under its current title Zeitschrift für Pneumologie, is published by Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, the medical publishing division of Springer Nature, headquartered in Berlin. The journal appears six times a year, a rhythm that allows each lead theme the space of a full issue while keeping the journal close to clinical developments, new guidelines, and the evolving standards of respiratory care.

Subscription and customer service are handled through the publisher's service centre, which manages subscriptions, address changes, and website access, and the editorial office can be contacted directly through the journal's page on the publisher's website, which also invites reader feedback and comments. Detailed information about the current editor-in-chief is not publicly confirmed from the sources consulted. The journal's editorial office can be reached through the publisher's platform, which lists the editorial contacts for authors and readers and invites direct feedback on content and service.

Digital Presence

The journal is fully integrated into Springer Medizin's digital ecosystem. Its page on the publisher's website presents the current and recent issues with their lead themes, from pleural diseases to the cough guideline, and articles are published with DOIs and available through Springer Nature Link, where they can be cited and downloaded. The platform's archive preserves the journal's run under both its current and former titles, and the journal's digital identity lives within the Springer Medizin and Springer Nature Link platforms rather than on a standalone brand site, which is standard for the publisher's specialist journals. Subscription management is handled online and through the customer service centre. Whether the journal maintains dedicated social media channels is not publicly confirmed from the sources consulted, and its visible online presence remains centred on the publisher's platforms and the Springer Nature Link archive.