The world is on the cusp of an ominous development: Bacteria are building resistance to existing antibiotics faster than new antibiotics are entering the market. An ever-widening cavity is opening up. This "antibiotic gap", as experts call this development, marks the beginning of a new era in medicine. For the first time in recent history, we have to come to terms with the fact that not all bacterial infections are treatable anymore - with implications for all areas of medicine, from surgery to oncology. The WHO has been using the term "silent pandemic" since the fall of 2021 because, unlike Corona, antibiotic resistance is creeping into our society unnoticed - but it is shaking up our healthcare system just as overarchingly. The issue is currently so serious that it is being treated with the same degree of urgency on the international policy stage as climate change or migration.