On the Death of Herwig Schopper

Professor Herwig Schopper had a particularly close connection to Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT): As founding director of the Institute for Nuclear Physics, he laid the groundwork for today’s Institute for Experimental Particle Physics and Institute for Astroparticle Physics, as well as for the merger of the university and research center. Just last year, the KIT Department of Physics celebrated his 100th birthday and awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his significant contributions to institutional development.

Herwig Schopper passed away on August 19, 2025, at the age of 101. Over many decades, he played a decisive role in shaping the field of particle physics. Since the 1960s, he had been closely associated with research in Karlsruhe, as director of the German Electron Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg, and at CERN. From 1981 to 1988, Schopper served as Director-General of CERN. During this time, the laboratory became a world-leading center for fundamental research.

In the years that followed, Schopper took on further prominent roles, including serving on scientific councils of several research institutions and as President of both the German Physical Society and later the European Physical Society. One of his most enduring legacies is SESAME, the international synchrotron light source in the Middle East, which he co-founded and chaired as the first President of its Council.

The funeral will take place on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at the cemetery chapel, Rupertistraße 37, in Nienstedten/Hamburg, in the presence of family, friends, and colleagues.

KIT mourns his passing and will remember Herwig Schopper as an outstanding scientist, a committed architect of the international research landscape, and a cherished friend of KIT.

mkl/jho, August 25, 2025