Born 1944 in Rerik (Mecklenburg). Study of physics and mathematics, doctorate Cologne Univ. (1973), german Habilitation in physics Darmstadt Technical Univ. (1977), Scientific Member at the Institute for Astrophysics in the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics (since 1985), Honorary Professor Munich Technical Univ. (1990), Director emeritus and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (since 1997).