GFZ German research centre for geo sciences

Room for Science

17.08.2011|Potsdam:
On 17 August at 10 AM on the Science Campus Telegrafenberg, the foundation stone for the extension buildings A69/70 of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences was laid. In the presence of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. Sabine Kunst, Minister for Science, Research and Culture in Brandenburg, Senior Principal Karl Wollin of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, Jann Jakobs, Lord Mayor of Potsdam and the architect Reiner Becker, a brass cartridge was filled with current newspapers from Potsdam and the construction certificate, then laid in the foundation stone and bricked up.

Foundation stone ceremony for the extension buildings of the GFZ

17.08.2011 | Potsdam: On 17 August at 10 AM on the Science Campus Telegrafenberg, the foundation stone for the extension buildings A69/70 of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences was laid. In the presence of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. Sabine Kunst, Minister for Science, Research and Culture in Brandenburg, Senior Principal Karl Wollin of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, Jann Jakobs, Lord Mayor of Potsdam and the architect Reiner Becker, a brass cartridge was filled with current newspapers from Potsdam and the construction certificate, then laid in the foundation stone and bricked up.

With this building, further 460 m2 of storage space 700 m2 of pure office space are available to the GFZ. These are urgently needed, because the GFZ is still growing - last year, the GFZ, the largest non-university research institute in the state of Brandenburg, welcomed its 1000th Employee. Professor Reinhard Huettl, Scientific Executive Director and Chairman of the Board: "Good research also requires the necessary space. That is well known to all the involved parties and decision-makers that have supported the GFZ since the beginning and still support it now. For the planning phase of A69/70, we were able to use funds from the Federal Government's Second Package of Measures (economic stimulus package); with a 67% funding share via the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), the European Union helped us with the implementation, approximately 1.4 million Euro. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Mrs. Sabine Kunst, Minister representing the State of Brandenburg and Mr. Charles Wollin, representative of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, for their support in providing the necessary funding."

The actual construction process advanced fairly quickly. After receiving the building permit in February 2011, the building site was quickly cleared by felling trees and removing residual waste. Since May, the shell construction is in progress, and if all goes according to plan, the roofing ceremony can be celebrated in September. The completion of the construction is planned for May next year.

The haste is necessary: The facilities on the Telegrafenberg campus have turned Potsdam into one of the central places for global Earth System Research, but the flip side of this success story is that all these research institutes require space. After the demolition of old buildings that had become unusable, the GFZ currently has to bear the loss of 700 m2 main usage space.

The GFZ currently solves its space problem by outsourcing large and important parts of its science to the Helmholtz Street and the Heinrich-Mann-Allee. For a research center that is characterized by a networked and interdisciplinary approach, this spatial separation is actually an unsustainable provisionary solution. Professor Huettl therefore sent an urgent appeal to the city: "With the current planning stage of new buildings of the institutes, the site reserves of this campus are exhausted. If the success story of the Earth System Research in Potsdam is to continue, it requires the constructive and benevolent support of city and state to find suitable new expansion areas. Help us to consolidate and advance Potsdam as a globally important site of the geosciences, and see the generous vision of a Telegrafenberg, which includes these new buildings, but also the terrain up to the buildings of the Ministry of the Environment."

Images with printable resolution

Additional News

back to top of main content