Born 1944, in Landsberg/Lech. Study of physics at Munich Technical Univ. and Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. Master of Science Madison (1967), doctorate in physics at Munich Technical Univ. (1970), research associate Yale Univ., USA, (1975-1976), habilitation in physics Univ. Göttingen (1981), research associate at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry (since 1972), Fairchild Scholar California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA, (1989), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (since 1983), honorary professor Univ. Göttingen.