the visitor from the bus terminal in Tallinn toTar–
tu in about 2,5 hours on smooth roads and hig–
hways. There are also frequent, regular buses to
Riga, Vilnius andS:t Petersburg.Tartuisthus still
in themiddle ofcultural, scientific and commerci–
al Iife in the region.
The population ofTartu is about l05 000, (less
than
10
o/o
of the total population ofEstonia) about
75
o/o
being Estonians. Life inTartu is much influ–
enced by the students, up to about 12
o/o
of the
total population are students during the semesters.
The University was of course active also during
Soviet times but played a minor role mainly be–
cause of two reasons, one was competition with
the technical center in Tallinn, the other was lack
of communication and exchange since Tartu was
a mjJitary base and center for industries of strate–
gic importance.
The old town is centred around the University
Hall and the picturesque Raekoja square. A
beautiful Town Hall in the southwest end of the
Raekoja squaredorujnates the view from the place
of the old stone bridge over the river Emajögi
(destroyedwhen theRedArmywithdraw in 1941)
with the DomHill and the ancient observatory in
the background. The Town Hall darninates the
square, but a remarkable collection of old, weil
kept anddesignedbuildings give it a perfeet frame.
Maybe upcoming tourist attractions are the new
fountain outside the town hall and the 'leaning
house of Tartu', a narrow building now housing
the KivisillaArt museum, possibly rivalling only
the leaning tower ofPisa.
Congresses
in Laboratorymedicine
With this impressive history, outstanding monu–
ments and prestigious past among unjversitiesTar–
tu was a natural choice for the first Baltic eon–
gress in laboratory medicine that was heJd in Fe–
bruary 1992. The preludes, organization and out–
come of that congress are stories of their own and
now history. Since then Baltic congresses have
been arrangedinVilnius 1994 and Jurmala (Riga)
in 1996 with ever increasing camplexity and sci–
entific and technica1 contents. Amost impressive
development towards full-fledged modern scien–
tific congresses with increasing numbers of parti–
cipants, posters and exhibitors has thus taken
place.
Klinisk Kemi
i
Norden 1-2, 1999
The fourth congress was arrangedin the Uni–
versityLibrary under the leadership ofUrmas Sii–
gur, Agu Tamm, Alar Arb and Ulli Veher, many
others not to be forgotten. The congress attracted
326 registered participants representing 14 coun–
tries. Major international and domestic manufac–
turers and vendors were represented in 23 diffe–
rentstands and 53 posters were displayed.
From the opening ceremony; Agu Tamm. (right)
in conversatian with the outhor
In general terms, the organization of the Con–
gress followed a traditional pattern. An overwhel–
ming welcome party was arrangedin the Univer–
sity museum on the Dom Hill where all partici–
pants met and got acquainted and then returned to
their quarters or enjoyed the pleasmes of the still
warm and light evening. Also, an excursion to a
19th century castle Sangaste about 60 km south of
Tartu was arranged. We drove through the Estoni–
an inland landscape with typical marshland and
open fields to reach the horneof the late count von
Berg, a philanthropist, known for cultural and
agricultural interests and achievements. The par–
ticipants were offered an unforgettable evening
with a rich buffe dinner and a live orchestra per–
forrujng traditional and modern dance music.
Scientific Programrue
The scientific program of the congress followed
traditional and weil established patterns with ple–
nary lectures, invited oral presentations, round ta-
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