The Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, Germany, is a research institute for investigations of complex non-equilibrium systems, particularly in physics and biology.
Its founding history goes back to Ludwig Prandtl who in 1911 requested a Kaiser Wilhelm Institute to be founded for the investigation of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics. As a first step the Aeronautische Versuchsanstalt (now the DLR) was established in 1915 and then finally the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Flow Research was established in 1924. In 1948 it became part of the Max Planck Society. The Max Planck Society was founded in this institute. In 2003 it was renamed to Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (Max Planck Gesellschaft).
History
The early history of the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization is closely linked to the work of the famous physicist Ludwig Prandtl. Prandtl is regarded as the founder of fluid dynamics and especially made a name for himself with his boundary layer theory. In Göttingen Prandtl opened two research facilities that both exist until today: in 1915 the Aerodynamical Experimental Station, which concentrated on application-oriented topics in fluid dynamics and evolved into the Göttinger branch of the German Space Agency DLR, and in 1925 the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fluid Dynamics. The latter mainly dealt with fundamental research in the field of fluid dynamics. After the Max Planck Society was founded the institute was renamed Max Planck Institute for Fluid Dynamics. In 2004 the institute again received a new name and is now called Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization.
The early years
In 1904 Ludwig Prandtl accepted a position as professor for Technical Physics at the University of Göttingen. Here he continued his research in fluid dynamics that he had started as professor in Hannover. One of his experimental setups was a water channel, into which different obstacles could be inserted. Soon however, Prandtl wished to conduct more application-oriented research in larger test facilities. This became possible in 1907 with the foundation of an experimental facility in the Hildebrandt Street. Here Prandtl built the first German wind tunnel and thereby established the so-called "Göttinger type" of wind tunnels. Unlike those created by Gustav Eiffel in France wind tunnels of the Göttinger type feature a closed cycle for the liquids or gases to flow in. The founding of this experimental facility is the starting point of the later Aerodynamical Experimental Station.
When on January 11, 1911, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, the preceding organisation of the Max Planck Society, was founded in Berlin, Prandtl acted again. Only one month later he appealed to the new organisation in a memorandum. In it he asked for an institute for fundamental research in fluid dynamics to be built in Göttingen. As reasons for his choice of location he listed his own previous research and the high esteem of mathematics at the University of Göttingen.
The following negotiations lasted for over a decade and were interrupted by World War I. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fluid Dynamics was not opened until 1925. It was located on the premises between Böttinger and Bunsen Street, where it is still found today. Ludwig Prandtl was appointed head of the institute. Before, in 1915 the application-oriented Aerodynamical Experimental Station had been founded at the same location. The wind tunnel that Prandtl had built in the Hildebrandt Street was moved to the Bunsen Street in 1918. With the foundation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute both the new institute and the Aerodynamical Experimental Station were united under the name "Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fluid Dynamics together with the Aerodynamical Experimental Station".
After World War II
On April 11, 1945, the British military government temporarily closed the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute and the Aerodynamical Experimental Station and installed a committee to decide about the future of both research facilities. In June a decision was made: The Aerodynamical Experimental Station was permanently closed and its experiments were disassembled. Having been built for the purpose of fundamental research only, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute was permitted to carry on its work and was reopened on August 1, 1946. In the same year Ludwig Prandtl resigned as head of the institute. His successor was Albert Betz, who had led the Aerodynamical Experimental Station for years.