Karl Heinz Beckurts
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Karl Heinz Beckurts (born 16 May 1930 in Rheydt; murdered 9 July 1986 in Straßlach near
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
) was a German physicist and research manager. With Karl Wirtz, he wrote a textbook on neutron physics. He was co-editor of the journal '' Nukleonik''. Along with his driver, Eckhard Groppler, Beckurts was murdered by a roadside bomb at 7:32 AM on 9 July 1986 in Straßlach, a village near Munich. The bomb used an electronic triggering device. The
Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...
claimed responsibility under the name "Kommando Mara Cagol" but the identity of the perpetrators is still unknown. The '' Bundeskriminalamt'' named Horst Ludwig Meyer as the only suspect for the bombing; Meyer was fatally shot in 1999 by the police in Vienna.


Early life and education

He was born to Karl Beckurts (1894–1952) and Gisela Beckurts, who was born the Countess of Brockdorff. He began studying physics in 1949 at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
, where he received an undergraduate degree in 1954 and in 1956 earned his doctorate with a dissertation in non-stationary neutron fields. For both his diploma and his PhD thesis, Karl Wirtz served as the advisor. Beckurts' father was an industrial clerk and Director General of the Gustloff Werke factory in Berlin. After that, he was a researcher at the
Max Planck Institute for Physics The Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) is a research institute located in Garching, near Munich, Germany. It specializes in high energy physics and astroparticle physics. The MPP is part of the Max Planck Society and is also known as the We ...
at Göttingen, under the tutelage of Karl Wirtz. In 1958, when Wirtz was named head of the Department of Experimental science for the Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center, Beckurts followed with him to continue his work. Also during this same time he was a resident at the Technical University of Karlsruhe, where he was a lecturer since 1959 and completed his habilitation in 1961. From 1963 to 1970 he was Director of the Institute for Applied Nuclear Physics at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and since 1964 was adjunct professor at the University of Karlsruhe. From 1967 to 1969 he was a visiting professor at the
University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...
.


Academic career

In 1969, he received a personal professorship in Heidelberg, but he resigned to instead take a position as Scientific and Technical Director of the Jülich Research Centre from 1970 to 1975. From 1975 to 1980 he served as Chairman of the Board of Management of the Jülich Nuclear Research Centre. Also, from 1973 to 1975, he served as Chairman of the (Nuclear Society) and Vice President of the German Atomic Forum. In 1977 he was inducted in 1977 as a foreign member to the
Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (, IVA), founded on 24 October 1919 by King Gustaf V, is one of the royal academies in Sweden. The academy is an independent organisation, which promotes contact and exchange between business, ...
. From 1980 until his assassination in 1986 he was a member of the Executive Board and Head of Corporate Research and Technology of
Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the posit ...
. In 1971 he was appointed Honorary Professor at the
University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
as well as the University of Heidelberg in 1974.


Nuclear Work

With Wirtz he wrote a standardized work on neutron physics. He was one of the developers of the research reactor in Karlsruhe, where he built the modern data processing technology for the Nuclear Research Center and Director of the Institute for Applied Nuclear Physics for expanding on Nuclear Solid State Physics. He was instrumental in the development of the high flux reactor at the Institut Laue-Langevin in
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
.Walter Hof, Eva Paur, Gebhard Schramm (Herausgeber) ''Die Waldstadt in Karlsruhe'', Info Verlag 2007, S. 314 From 1971 to 1975 he was a member of the German Science Council. He was also a member in the Euratom Committee for Nuclear Data and Nuclear Physics. From 1963 to 1966 he was the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany in the International Nuclear Data Scientific Working Group (INDSWG) of the IAEA in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. From 1973 to 1976 he was Chairman of the Nuclear Society in the German Atomic Forum and also Chairman of several other large research institutions.


Murder

Karl Beckurts was assassinated, along with his chauffeur Eckhard Groppler, on 9 July 1986 near Strasslach in Munich by a bombing at 07:32 am. The culprits used an electronically-triggered booby trap. The attackers claimed responsibility under the name "commando Mara Cagol" of the
Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...
(RAF). The true perpetrator is still unknown to this day. Horst Ludwig Meyer, the only suspect in this bombing called by the Federal Criminal Police Office was shot and killed by Vienna police in 1999.''Wie entdeckt man gute Forscher?'', Interview mit Ina Beckurts. In
''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', 6. Dezember 2007
/ref>


Theories

In April 1986, the
Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
occurred in the former
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. It was the worst to date and most consequential accident in the history of nuclear power. Since it also occurred in the middle of a heated political debate over nuclear power in
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
, it has been speculated that the RAF wanted to win sympathy from the West German anti-nuclear movement against nuclear use.spiegel.de 14. Juli 1986
14. Juli 1986: ''Terror: Da waren Superprofis am Werk''
/ref>


Memory

At the site of the attack, there is a memorial of the assassination for Beckurts. In his honor and memory of Beckurts the ''Karl Heinz Beckurts Foundation of the Association of the major research institutions'' (AGF) was founded by today's Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres in 1987. The foundation's mission statement is "to promote scientific work that is to be exercised as a bridge between natural science and technology on the one hand and the humanities on the other hand suitable". The Foundation awards the Karl Heinz Beckurts award annually. Siemens named the Munich site in Neuperlach-Süd after him as the Karl-Heinz Beckurts house. An adjacent trail is named after Eckhard Groppler. On the same premises Beckurts and Groppler are honored with a memorial site. In Jülich, a street was named after Beckurts.


Personal life

Beckurts was married twice. His first marriage produced a son and two daughters.


Writings

*Karl Wirtz ''Elementary Neutron Physics'', Springer 1958 English edition of Neutron Physics, Springer 1964 *''Ralf Reichswaldhalle cooperation in management with integrated office automation'', CW Publ., Munich 1984 *''Technological progress, challenge and expectation: lectures, essays, interviews'', 1980–1986, Berlin, Siemens 1986


Literature

*Drüll Dagmar: Heidelberg scholarly lexicon 1933–1986, Springer 2009


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckurts, Karl Heinz 1930 births 1986 deaths 20th-century German physicists Victims of the Red Army Faction