the idea of arachnologists coming together for scientific meetings stems from the german zoologist hermann wiehle in 1959 . he encouraged wolfgang crome (berlin) and ernst kullmann (bonn) in this matter and a subsequent meeting of the german zoological society in bonn in 1960 was used as a platform for the first arachnological meeting; with about 20 (mostly german) scientists in attendance. a second meeting, again associated with the german zoological society, followed in saarbrücken in 1961 organised by otto kraus, and attracted additional international participation. the third meeting, again organised by otto kraus, was held in frankfurt am main in 1965 under the title "iii. kongreß europäischer arachnologen".