In October 1995, the 1st Colloquium on Mitochondria and Myopathies in Halle/Saale was organized in Halle/Saale by the editors of this focused issue. The meeting took up what might be called an East German tradition: from 1976 to 1990 Andreas Schmidt organized seven clinically orientated Colloquia on Myology in Jena, and from 1974 to 1990 a series of twelve Colloquia on Mitochondria focused on basic research aspects was arranged by Wolfgang Kunz in Magdeburg. At those meetings, East Germany was a mediator between East European, West European and American scientists. In continuation of this...