I was barely released from my playpen, when I built my first radio with an electronic construction kit (click for a picture). With this radio I could receive broadcast stations from far away. With this first experiences, I learned very soon, that high-frequency technique is a very good example, when the adults said to me that "theorie and practice are two types". After my parents agreed, that I need urgently a soldering iron to pursue my push with experiments, all electronic equipment was not save anymore for my curiosity. Either I repaired broken electronic equipment or I used the components of the devices in order to built my own electronic gadgets. When I rebuilt a radio receiver to a radio sender, and a yellow car with many antennas (the german authority for broadcasting!) appeared in front of our house, I used this time to attend immediately(!) to one of my other hundreds of interests. In order to show, that sometimes it is possible to combine theory and practice, I built with an age of 10 years, a family of 3 different robots which won the first price at a hobby-exhibition (click for a picture).
My many chemical experiments which I did with several chemical labs and the many holes in my cloths (caused from etch of electronic plates, my production of strong acids and fire-explosions from self made firework), rack the brains of my parents. Thus, I got a thick overall, a pair of goggles, shelter-gloves and a fire proof underlay from them. A druggist was also very nervouse, when I ordered (almost 12 years old!) a second time at the same day 200g sulfur. In respect of this, my parents were much more quiet, when I observed during the night the sky with my binoculars for many hours, when I didn't want to go to bed and when I asked them thousands of questions about the universe.
With 14 years, I got to my confirmee a two-beam-oscilloscope, which I used to trace the obscure and weird things which can happen in high-frequency-technique. When I heard at this age the first time the word "computer", I was infected by this "virus". Because of my many interests and hobbys, my pocket-money was never enough and I build my first computer with a Z80-CPU by myself (click for a picture). With a "huge" memory of 1KByte, I learned inevitable, how to programm short, fast and effective computer programms in HEX-code. After the VC20 and later the C64 was born, it was clear what I found under the christmas trees. During the night I dreamed from endless HEX-number-columns. When I solved a programm-problem during my sleep, I awake immediately at 3:00 o'clock or so, put my C64 on, throw pillows and blankets onto my good old Epson RX80 needle-printer in order to reduce the noise, then I could bet that less then one minute later, my father came very sleepy in my room, searching the pointers of his wristwatch and remind me that I have to be well rested at 8 o'clock in the school.
At this age it was clear for me that I have to do some practical education after the school and I started a two-level education from the Nachrichtengerätemechaniker (something with fine-mechanics and electric) to the Informationselektroniker (communication electronics) at the concern EWD/Telefunken/Thomson. During this 3 1/2 year lasting education, I bought one of the first PAL Amiga 1000 computers, and it makes the first time sense for me to programm in Pascal, Modula-2 and C, because one can dream much more relaxed than in HEX-code. After I finished my education, I stayed for the time being at EWD/Telefunken/Thomson in the computer division. I developed software and hardware, trained the employees, was responsible for the workstations, the PCs and the network connections. Although I had much fun with this work, my thirst of knowledge was too strong then to talk only with computers until I will be retired.
More then one dozen popular science books about the theory of relativity, and my permanent growing interest about astronomy pushed me, to study physics at the Universität-Gesamthochschule Paderborn. With about 50 other students during the first semester and therefore very good study conditions and also very good contacts to the professors, it was possible to discuss intensive about physical problems. It was clear that again such a computer-servant named 486DX/50 accompanyed me. At this time I started to recognize that small, fast and stable programms where out-of-date and more and more huge, very slow and permanently crashing programms flood the world. This was the first time when I thought seriously if humans waste more time for the administration of their computers then they win from this computer-slaves. Because of this, I kept my programming-style with short, fast and stable programms.
After the intermediate diploma I moved to the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, in order to participate at the various lectures about astronomy und environmental physics. Finally I had the knowledge to understand the two-semester lecture about the theory of general relativity. With this, I reached my interim aim and at last I could spend my time with things which I really liked, although there was over and over again a computer-bondsman which tryed to spite me. I made my diploma thesis at the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie in Heidelberg. This gave me the possibility to participate in topical astronomy science and to observe with the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto in Spain.
Title of my diploma thesis:
Calibration and tests of a cryogenic Fabry-Perot-Interferometer
for the high resolution infrared camera CONICA
at the Very Large Telescope
Title of my Ph.D. thesis:
Quasi-Periodicity of the Parsec-Scale Jet in the Quasar 3C345
- A High Resolution Study using VSOP and VLBA -
(My Ph.D. thesis is available at the server of the Universität- und LandesBibliothek Bonn)
Meanwhile, I work as an astronomer in the VLBI-Group at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany. My objects of interest are Aktive Galactic Nuclei (e.g.: Quasars) which we observe and investigate with the highest possible resolution. More about Quasars and our powerfull observing technique can be found on this Web-Page in the section Astronomy.