Max Planck Institute for Astronomy - Annual Report 2005

140 V. People and Events
V.14 Where is the MPIA Standing in our Research Scene?
An interview with Hermann-Friedrich Wagner, former
Director in the Federal Ministry of Education and
Research and Chair of the Board of Trustees at the
MPIA.
Hermann-Friedrich Wagner has been involved with
astronomy for at least half a century. At the age of 12
he built his first telescope. In 1960, he began to study
physics and astronomy at the University of Tübingen,
attending Heinrich Siedentopf’s lectures there. There
he also met Hans Elsässer, the later founding director of
the MPIA, who in 1959 had habilitated with Siedentopf.
But then Mr. Wagner switched over to the booming
field of nuclear physics where he earned his PhD in
1969 in Bonn. From 1970 to 1972 he held a chair in the
faculty of physics at the University of Kabul. After that
he first worked for the Federal Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development and then in the Federal
Ministry of Education and Research. There he worked
for large research centers and was engaged in energy
research for a long time. From 1998 until 2005 he then
was responsible for the allocation of funds for basic
scientific research. In this interview, Mr. Wagner comments
on the position of the MPIA in the national and
international environment and gives his assessment of
the future prospects of astronomical research on the one
hand and the chances of astronomers on the job market
in a high-tech country like Germany on the other.
Since when do you know the Königstuhl?
HFW: I first came to the Königstuhl in 1962 when
Siedentopf invited us students there. There was no talk
of the MPIA and its large telescopes then (the foundation
of the Institute was not decided upon until 1967),
but Hans Elsässer had just been appointed director of
the Landessternwarte.
You then decided against a PhD in astronomy.
Why?
HFW: One single argument had been the decisive factor
then: I considered the career prospects of astronomers
to be very poor, and I therefore joined the nuclear physicists,
although I felt very much tempted to do a PhD
with Professor Priester in Bonn. The largest telescope
in the Federal Republic of Germany then was the 1-m
reflector in Hamburg-Bergedorf (built in 1910!), and
only very few people were dreaming of space astronomy.
I even remember Siedentopf proving down to the
last detail why it never would be possible to build space
telescopes. He had been firmly convinced that it was
impossible to receive the signals with sufficient clarity.
»Forget signal reception from Mars«, he told us. Today
it is obvious how much Siedentopf was mistaken in this
respect.
And how do you see your decision from a presentday
point of view?
HFW: I had no idea then of the meteoric development
awaiting astronomy in our country. Those who are still
thinking the way I did then are strongly mistaken. Young
astrophysicists generally get an excellent education in
the high-tech and information technology area, that is,
exactly in those fields that are very much in demand
today. At that time I thought astronomy was just for
fun. Current astrophysics is for fun and has excellent
career prospects – that is its big advantage. Solid state
physicists, I think, are fixated on too narrow a field, so
maybe they will be able to do solid state physics later
with Siemens. Astrophysicists, however, have a broad
education and can do all sorts of things.
Where would you place present-day astrophysics in
the sequence of other physical research areas?
HFW: For me, astrophysics is the most interesting field
of all. After all, which field of research is providing more
excitement then?
Do you also support the building of new large telescopes?
HFW: Absolutely. I always considered telescopes to be
»discovery machines«. If you have a telescope more powerful
than its predecessors you will always find something
new with it. You never can be sure what it will be,
but you will always come across something new. That is
the fascinating thing for me. In comparison, a large-scale
particle accelerator like the LHC of cern is a dedicated
facility used to search for something specific, as if you
were looking for the sea route to India. This is why I
supported the LBT from the start, or now the new X-ray
laser X-FEL at desy.
A large number of young people are being educated
at observatories like that.
HFW: Exactly. Only people who have a certain love of
adventure and are really good will go there. And they are
getting an excellent training – exactly what the German
industry needs.
So, more money for large observatories like the LBT
in the future?
HFW: Absolutely. The tough competition found at such
an institution ensures that only the very best students get