Heinrich Hertz Lecture Hall Designated as a “Historic Site”

The European Physical Society (EPS) confers the “EPS Historic Site” award to the Heinrich Hertz Lecture Hall at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). With this award, the renowned federation of European physical societies honors eminent physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) and his 1886 discovery of the electromagnetic waves in the Karlsruhe lecture hall, which is today named after him.

With the “EPS Historic Site Award”, the European Physical Society (EPS) honors laboratories, buildings, or institutions that are associated with a particular event, discovery, research, or an achievement by persons who made important contributions to the world of physics. In Karlsruhe, the EPS will honor the achievements of the great physicist Heinrich Hertz. The commemorative plaque will be unveiled in the presence of Mairi Sakellariadou, President of the EPS.

Heinrich Hertz and the Electromagnetic Waves

Heinrich Hertz held a position as Professor of physics from 1885 to 1889 at the then Karlsruhe Technical University, a predecessor institution of KIT. On November 13, 1886, he succeeded for the first time in experimentally generating electromagnetic waves and transmitting them from a sender to a receiver.

“The discovery of the electromagnetic waves by Heinrich Hertz has been fundamental for wireless communication. Many of today’s technologies such as television, cell phone communication, or WLAN would not be conceivable without this discovery. KIT takes pride in receiving the ‘EPS Historic Sites’ award for this discovery from the EPS today,” says Professor Oliver Kraft, Vice President Academic Affairs at KIT.

About the European Physical Society (EPS)

The European Physical Society (EPS) is a federation of 42 European physical societies. Founded in 1968, the scientific society is headquartered in Mulhouse, France. It represents more than 100,000 physicists in Europe.

Being “The University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.