Helmut Aichele (1939 - 2024)

On October 28, 2024, our former colleague Dr. Helmut Aichele passed away in Erlangen at the age of 85. Dr. Aichele studied physics at the Technical University of Berlin and at the Technical University of Stuttgart until 1966. He completed his doctorate under Prof. Dr. Strobach on seismic refraction measurements in the area of the Franconian and Swabian Jura. From 1966, he was a scientific employee at the former Seismological Central Observatory Gräfenberg (SZGRF) of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Erlangen until his retirement in 2002.

In addition to his scientific work in seismology, he was also committed to the international integration of the observatory. Through his formative committee activities, he helped to further establish the SZGRF and thus the BGR as a central German seismological institution. For a long time, he was also responsible for the daily interactive evaluation of the seismological waveform data of the Gräfenberg array, the world's first digital broadband array on the Franconian Alb, which has been recorded exclusively digitally since the end of the 1970s. He dedicated himself to this pioneering task with great conscientiousness.

We mourn the loss of our former colleague Dr. Helmut Aichele and will keep him in honorable memory. Our sympathy goes out to his relatives.

Klaus Stammler and Thomas Plenefisch, BRG