3rd Technology Tour of the Senior Expert Chemists to Darmstadt
Already a tried and tested concept: Senior Expert Chemists (SEC) from the GDCh joined VAA retirees from the Wolfgang Industrial Park near Hanau on an excursion to Darmstadt on 30 August 2010. The programme included a visit to the ESOC (European Space Operations Centre) and the Art Nouveau villas on the Mathildenhöhe. Obviously an attractive offer, as no fewer than 40 people were registered!
ESOC is the control centre of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is responsible for the operation of all ESA satellites and the necessary global network of ground stations. Darmstadt locals like to call it "Hessen's gateway to space". ESOC teams have looked after over 60 ESA satellites to date, e.g. Huygens, Mars Express, Rosetta, Envisat, GOCE, Herschel and Planck.
The centre has successfully carried out the most difficult satellite rescue operations and is also a specialist in space debris.
Visiting ESOC requires a little imagination. When a satellite is not being launched into space - ESOC takes control as soon as the satellite is released from the launch vehicle - the control room is yawningly empty. You have to imagine the flight director surrounded by numerous specialists, all at huge screens. Each one has a special task on a part of the satellite, and each one has to react very quickly to unforeseen situations. For example, if the antenna with the solar cells doesn't deploy quickly enough, the batteries will run out before the satellite can start working.
What was particularly impressive? I'll pick out two missions. Firstly, the twin satellites Herschel and Planck, which can receive the weakest signals in the far infrared from the edge of the universe at a detector temperature of 0.3 K (with Planck even only 0.1 K!). Researchers want to get closer to the origin of the universe (Big Bang theory). Secondly, the landing of Rosetta on a comet. Comets are particularly valuable for researching the formation of the solar system because their material has hardly changed. Rosetta has been travelling since March 2004 and is due to land on its target comet in November 2014. In order to save fuel, Rosetta was accelerated by several flybys of the Earth (swing-by), similar to how a hammer thrower gives its device momentum. Satellite missions often take decades. The Marecs-B2 telecommunications satellite, for example, was launched in 1984 and is still being controlled today - using computer technology from 1984!
It is thanks to the last Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine that Darmstadt became a globally important centre of Art Nouveau. He founded the artists' colony on the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt in 1899 by first inviting Joseph Maria Olbrich to Darmstadt. Olbrich was followed by other important artists such as Peter Behrens, Hans Christiansen, Ludwig Habich, Bernhard Hoetger and Albin Müller, who, thanks to the financial support of Ernst-Ludwig, were able to further develop Art Nouveau and realise it in the form of residential buildings in particular.
Art Nouveau is a rebellion against the overloaded historicism of the "Belle Epoque" (or imperial era) and against industrial mass production, especially in Victorian England. Asymmetry, floral elements, rounded shapes and, above all, lightness dominate in the artists' houses.
Unfortunately, the Art Nouveau villas on Mathildenhöhe were badly damaged during the Second World War. The pensioners were able to visit two of the artists' houses and gain an impression - again with some imagination - of how the philosophy of Art Nouveau, the unity of artist and craftsman, shaped the area of everyday life. It was precisely this unity that later shaped the Bauhaus in Weimar.
Despite careful planning, one factor of the excursion could not be organised, namely the weather. The vision was a hot, dry midsummer day, the reality was cold and wet! In keeping with the vision, the tour ended with a special treat. As the highest point in Darmstadt, the Mathildenhöhe was predestined for a large water reservoir. It was built in 1880 and had a capacity of almost 5000 m3. Today, the listed building forms the foundation of the large exhibition building. The water in the catacombs is now only 30 cm high. What a refreshment after a hot day of sightseeing! The enthusiasm of the pensioners for refreshment was very limited on this cool, rainy day!
Art Nouveau and ESOC, for Darmstadt the result of fortunate circumstances and a little coincidence. ESA's decision in favour of Darmstadt in 1967 was due to the presence of the then "Technische Hochschule" and a mainframe computer. Grand Duke Ernst-Ludwig was one of the many grandsons of Queen Victoria of England. He enjoyed a proper English education there and learnt about the Arts and Crafts movement - it is rightly regarded as one of the pioneers of Art Nouveau.
Text and photos: Wolfgang Gerhartz