With “Looking back at the history of haemostasis with a sneak peek into the future”, Marc Hoylaerts (Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, KU Leuven, LEUVEN, Belgium) gave his personal view on the field of haemostasis. He did this in the lecture in memory of and named after Professor Gaston Baele, who became the first president of the BSTH over 25 years ago.