Otto Heckmann | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Painting of Heckmann as ESO Director General | |
| Born | (1901-06-23)June 23, 1901 |
| Died | May 13, 1983(1983-05-13) (aged 81) |
| Citizenship | Prussia |
| Alma mater | University of Bonn |
| Awards | James Craig Watson Medal in 1961 Bruce Medal in 1964 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astronomy |
| Institutions | Hamburg Observatory |
Otto Hermann Leopold Heckmann (June 23, 1901 – May 13, 1983) was a German mathematician and astronomer, director of theHamburg Observatory from 1941 to 1962, after which he became the first director of theEuropean Southern Observatory.[1] He actively contributed to the creation of the third issue of theAstronomische Gesellschaft Katalog. He also contributed tocosmology based on the fundamentals ofgeneral relativity, and in 1942 wrote the bookTheorien der Kosmologie.
Otto Heckmann was born to Agnes Heckmann, née Grüter and Max Heckmann, a notary, a Catholic family inOpladen in 1901.[2] He studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy at theUniversity of Bonn. He wrote a thesis inastrometry underKarl Friedrich Küstner about a star cluster inPraesepe and received a doctorate in 1925. He married in 1925 and worked for two years in theBonn Observatory[3] with Küstner, who was involved in the planning of star catalog Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog 2 of the Northern Hemisphere.[2]
In 1927 Heckmann was appointed to the faculty of theUniversity of Göttingen and worked in the Göttingen Observatory underHans Kienle.[4] In 1929, Heckmann obtained hishabilitation of astrometry in the star groupComa Berenices.[2]
After Adolf Hitler had come to power in 1933, at least 48 colleagues in the science faculty at Göttingen were driven into exile because of their religious, or more rarely political beliefs (Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums, 7 April 1933), amongst themMax Born. Heckmann was tasked to continue Born's lectures in optics and asked Born to give him his lecture notes, which Born refused.[5]Heckmann initially thought that he could survive the system by retreating into science alone.[5]In September 1933, the local NSDAP judged Heckmann as "long time member of the leftist wing of the CatholicZentrumspartei, unreliable and pro-Jewish (judenfreundlich)". In 1934, 3 professors from Frankfurt tried to recruit him, but were thwarted by the denuciation of Karl Boda, a competitor. Likewise, in 1934Walther Gerlach (1889-1979) suggested he come to München, but a Nazi official (Gaudozentenbundsführer Wilhelm Führer) and a member of theNationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund turned him down. Heckman probably would not have had any opportunities in academia if he had not taken steps to change the assessment of the local Nazi representatives. And due to his high specialization, Heckmann found himself without professional alternatives, such as industry.[5] In 1934, Heckmann joined the NS-Fliegerkorps, attended Wehrsportlager in Borna near Leipzig, the Dozentenakademie in Kiel-Buchenhagen. He signed theVow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State. On July 10, 1934, he joined theNationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt. Starting 1935, the Nazi representatives evaluated him as more adapted and conforming to the system. In December 1936, he was urged to apply for the position vacated byErwin Finlay Freundlich at theUniversity of Istanbul, a highly political position serving military interests (observation of the sun’s surface forsolar flares resulting in interference with radio communications on Earth), but eventuallyHans Oswald Rosenberg was chosen.[5]
Until 1935, Heckmann measured star colors in the red and blue spectrum withphotometry with a telescope costing "two years of painstaking adjustment until it began working properly". In 1935, he received the honorary title of professor. After 1937 they used aSchmidt telescope with anaperture of about 38 centimeters.[2]
In the fall of 1937 the Hamburg University faculty finally called on Heckmann, after having been obstructed for years by the Government of the Reich, and by various agencies within the Nazi Party. On May 1, 1937 Heckmann joined theNazi Party, encouraged byWerner Heisenberg in order to thwart members ofDeutsche Physik to occupy teaching positions. However in 1938, the leader of theReichsdozentenbund (an association of government lecturers dominated by the Nazis), refused to permit Heckmann to occupy the position arguing most of his publications were co-authored and his solo-authored publications on relativity theory represented a Jewish world view. In 1938, Heckmann participated in ideological instruction at the "Reichslager für Beamte" inBad Tölz. The appointment to Hamburg was delayed until April 1941.[5] Finally, in 1941, Heckmann left Göttingen to direct theHamburg Observatory, Bergedorf.[4]After 14 years of being an extraordinary professor (assistant), he finally became officially appointed a full professor and civil servant in January 1942.[5]
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After WWII, Heckmann worked on the establishment of a jointEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO) in South Africa. In the 1950s he supervised the thesis ofJürgen Stock (astronomer), who eventually went on to search for and established an observatory site for theUniversity of Chicago in Chile, after which the ESO founded their centre in Chile as well.[6] Heckmann retired from the directorship of Hamburg Observatory in 1962.[4]
From 1962 to 1969 he served as the first director general of theEuropean Southern Observatory.[4]
After mandatory retirement from the university in 1969, he served as president of theInternational Astronomical Union (IAU) from 1967 to 1970.[4]Charles Fehrenbach (astronomer) called him the work horse of the IAU.[2]
Following a Polish request and under the impression of German acts in Poland during World War II, he made the controversial decision to hold an Extraordinary IAU General Assembly in February 1973 in Warsaw, Poland, to commemorate the 500th anniversary ofNicolaus Copernicus, shortly after the regular 1973 GA had been held in Australia.[citation needed]
He married Johanna Topfmeier in 1925 and they had three children together:[7] Klaus, Hildegard and Ulrike.[8] He died in his family circle in Regensburg while traveling to visit his son there.[9]
Theasteroid1650 Heckmann is named after him.
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