Manfred von Ardenne(1907-1997)
Due to her father's professional transfer, the family soon moved to Berlin, where Ardenne attended high school. In 1923 he left school early to train as a precision mechanic. The 16-year-old was extremely technically gifted and had already acquired his first patent, which enabled the development of the Loewe triple tube and the modernization of broadcasting. Ardenne soon gave up studying physics, chemistry and mathematics in Berlin in 1925 in order to continue his self-taught studies. In 1928 Ardenne founded a laboratory for electron physics in Berlin, which he directed until 1945. Here he made numerous inventions, such as a fluorescent screen scanner, which, among other things, had a lasting influence on the development of radio and television.
At the Berlin Radio Exhibition in 1931, Ardenne was the first German to present a television set he had developed, after TV technology had first been publicly presented by the British John Logie Baird in 1926. In 1937 he built the first scanning electron microscope. In 1938, Ardenne married his second wife, Bettina Bergengruen, with whom he had four children. After the outbreak of war in 1939, Ardenne participated in the research and application of radar technology as part of the National Socialist armaments policy. He received the Leibniz Medal in 1941 for his services to the fascist war machine. In the immediate post-war period, Ardenne initially transferred to Soviet service, where he developed a process for industrial uranium extraction for the construction of the Soviet atomic bomb. For this, the researcher received the USSR Stalin Prize in 1953. In 1955 Ardenne was able to return to Germany, i.e. to the German Democratic Republic (GDR), where he founded his own institute named after him in Dresden.
In addition, there was the chair for electrical engineering problems in nuclear physics at the TU Dresden. In the decades that followed, the physicist, who was never a member of the SED, was able to continue his research there with generous support from the GDR authorities. In 1958 Ardenne was awarded the GDR First Class National Prize. In addition to electron and nuclear physics, medical research was the main focus of his work from the mid-1960s. Here he developed new therapeutic procedures against aging and cancer, which, however, received no recognition from conventional medicine. After German unification in 1990, much of Ardenne's institute fell victim to government cuts. The physical research program was continued by "Von Ardenne Anlagentechnik GmbH". In the following years, the researcher also worked as the head of a cancer clinic.
Manfred von Ardenne died on May 26, 1997 in Dresden.
At the Berlin Radio Exhibition in 1931, Ardenne was the first German to present a television set he had developed, after TV technology had first been publicly presented by the British John Logie Baird in 1926. In 1937 he built the first scanning electron microscope. In 1938, Ardenne married his second wife, Bettina Bergengruen, with whom he had four children. After the outbreak of war in 1939, Ardenne participated in the research and application of radar technology as part of the National Socialist armaments policy. He received the Leibniz Medal in 1941 for his services to the fascist war machine. In the immediate post-war period, Ardenne initially transferred to Soviet service, where he developed a process for industrial uranium extraction for the construction of the Soviet atomic bomb. For this, the researcher received the USSR Stalin Prize in 1953. In 1955 Ardenne was able to return to Germany, i.e. to the German Democratic Republic (GDR), where he founded his own institute named after him in Dresden.
In addition, there was the chair for electrical engineering problems in nuclear physics at the TU Dresden. In the decades that followed, the physicist, who was never a member of the SED, was able to continue his research there with generous support from the GDR authorities. In 1958 Ardenne was awarded the GDR First Class National Prize. In addition to electron and nuclear physics, medical research was the main focus of his work from the mid-1960s. Here he developed new therapeutic procedures against aging and cancer, which, however, received no recognition from conventional medicine. After German unification in 1990, much of Ardenne's institute fell victim to government cuts. The physical research program was continued by "Von Ardenne Anlagentechnik GmbH". In the following years, the researcher also worked as the head of a cancer clinic.
Manfred von Ardenne died on May 26, 1997 in Dresden.