Born on 26th February 1934, in Burgdorf (Switzerland). Study of physics, doctorate Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Z�rich (1965), Fellow of the Miller Institute of Basic Research in Science of the Univ. of California/Berkeley/USA (1965), Research fellow Harvard Univ./USA (1966), Professor of Physics Nijmegen University, The Netherlands (1967), Director and Scientific Member of the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid-State Research (1985-2001), Honorary Professor Kon