Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
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The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is based in Braunschweig and Berlin. It is the national institute for natural and engineering sciences and the highest technical authority for metrology and physical safety engineering in Germany.
Part of its brief is the accurate measurement of time. It is responsible for the German atomic clock CS2 and the longwave time signal DCF77. In addition, the PTB operates time servers for the distribution of time on the internet.
They are also responsible for the certification of voting machines for the German federal and European elections.
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[edit] History
The PTB was originally founded in 1887 as the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR) (the Physical and Technical Institute of the Reich). The goal of the organization was supervising and directing calibration and establishing metrological standards. Research areas included spectroscopy, photometry, electrical engineering, and cryogenics. Werner von Siemens was instrumental in its establishment. Until 1934 the PTR was part of the Reichsinnenministerium (the Reich's Ministry of Interior Affairs). After 1934 it became part of the Reichserziehungsministerium (the Reich's Ministry of Education).[1]
The Institute’s board of directors included Heinrich Konen and Walther Nernst around 1930, Albert Einstein (1917 – 1933), Ludwig Prandtl, and Max Planck, as well as representatives from Siemens AG, Krupp, and Zeiss. Its presidents were:
- Hermann von Helmholtz (1887 – 1892)
- Friedrich Kohlrausch (1892 – 1905)
- Walther Nernst (1922 – 1924)
- Friedrich Paschen (1924 – 1933)
- Johannes Stark (1933 – 1939)
- Abraham Esau (1939 – 1945).
Max von Laue was the Physics advisor from 1925 to December 1933.[2]
In 1932 the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt had 292 employees; 443 in 1937 and around 1942 over 500. After the end of World War II in 1945 it was renamed to the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (the Federal Institute of Physical and Technical Affairs)[3] and serves as the national metrology institute[4].
[edit] Bibliography
- Klaus Hentschel, editor and Ann M. Hentschel, editorial assistant and Translator Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources (Birkhäuser, 1996)
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hentschel (1996) Appendix B, pp. iv – vii.
- ^ Hentschel (1996) Appendix B, pp. iv – vii.
- ^ Hentschel (1996) Appendix B, pp. iv – vii.
- ^ http://www.ptb.de/en/zieleaufgaben/dieptb.htm
Coordinates: 52°17′43″N 10°27′49″E / 52.29528°N 10.46361°E
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