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Walter Fricke
Walter Ernst Fricke (1 April 1915 – 21 March 1988) was a distinguished German professor of theoretical astronomy at the University of Heidelberg. He was a mathematician and cryptanalyst during World War II at the Wehrmacht signals intelligence agency, Inspectorate 7/VI from 1941 to 1942 (which would later become the General der Nachrichtenaufklärung. In 1942 he was transferred to the OKW/Chi Section IIb. His specialty was the production of codes and ciphers, and the security studies of Army systems. After the war he was director of the Astronomical Calculation Institute (German: Astronomisches Rechen-Institut) in Heidelberg, Germany.
Walter Fricke was born in Leimbach-Mansfeld near Merseburg, Germany. His father was a carpenter who worked as a miner in the copper-schist mines at Mansfeld. Walter Fricke attended a high school Stephaneum in Aschersleben and passed the final examination (Abitur) in 1934. After high school, he enrolled as a student at Frederick William University in East Berlin, studying astronomy, mathematics and physics. His teachers there included Paul ten Bruggencate and August Kopff in astronomy, Erhard Schmidt in mathematics and Max von Laue in physics.
In 1935, he published his first astronomy papers. These were critiques of Edwin Hubble's studies made at Mount Wilson Observatory on the distribution of spiral nebulae. In 1939, while resident at the Göttingen Observatory, he received his doctorate with a thesis titled Influence of a resisting agent in the dynamics of dense stellar systems (Einfluß eines widerstehenden Mittels in der Dynamik dichter Sternsysteme). He obtained a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, which was arranged with the help of British theoretical cosmologist Dr George C. McVittie, which was due to start on 1 October 1939 but had to be cancelled because of the start of World War II in September 1939. On 1 May 1940 he started work at Hamburg Observatory, and later in that year was drafted into the Signal Corps (Nachrichtentruppe). On 15 May 1941 he was posted to Inspektorate 7, the cipher bureau of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) high command, although as an astronomer he knew nothing about cryptography and cryptanalysis. Professor Otto Heckmann, director of the Hamburg Observatory, tried to lure him back to continue working on problems specifically related to war work that he had been occupied with before he was drafted: tables of air and ship navigation, aerodynamic problems for aeroplanes traveling at speeds over 1300 km/hour as well as rockets flying at speeds of more than 3000 km/hour. These were purely solutions to differential equations which were allocated to various institutions for solving.
A minor planet discovered on 15 February 1941 by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth in Heidelberg was named "1561 Fricke" in his honour. In 1942 he was appointed the assistant astronomer at the Hamburg Observatory at Bergedorf, but could only take the position up in 1946 due to conscription.
In 1943 Fricke married Marianne Fricke (née Traute). They had a daughter, Maxi-Marianne Fricke. His wife Marianne died in 1987.
In 1951, he received his habilitation from University of Hamburg. In 1953, after receiving a fellowship from the German Science Foundation, he went to the United States for a year, working at the Yerkes, Mount Wilson, Palomar and Princeton University Observatories. After returning, he became a tenured member (Wissenschaftlicher Rat) of the Hamburg Observatory. In December 1954, Dr Fricke was made the provisional director of the Astronomical Calculation Institute in Heidelberg. Heidelberg University appointed him an honorary professor in 1955 and a personal full professor in 1958. In 1961 he became a regular full professor of theoretical astronomy at Heidelberg.
Fricke served as president of the International Astronomical Union Commissions 4 (1958–1964) and 8 (1970–1973), and as vice president of the IAU from 1964 to 1967.
On 1 April 1983 he retired as professor emeritus. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Fricke stayed on as Director of the Institute until 30 September 1985, and continued his scientific work until he was hospitalized with cancer in 1987.
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Walter Fricke
Walter Ernst Fricke (1 April 1915 – 21 March 1988) was a distinguished German professor of theoretical astronomy at the University of Heidelberg. He was a mathematician and cryptanalyst during World War II at the Wehrmacht signals intelligence agency, Inspectorate 7/VI from 1941 to 1942 (which would later become the General der Nachrichtenaufklärung. In 1942 he was transferred to the OKW/Chi Section IIb. His specialty was the production of codes and ciphers, and the security studies of Army systems. After the war he was director of the Astronomical Calculation Institute (German: Astronomisches Rechen-Institut) in Heidelberg, Germany.
Walter Fricke was born in Leimbach-Mansfeld near Merseburg, Germany. His father was a carpenter who worked as a miner in the copper-schist mines at Mansfeld. Walter Fricke attended a high school Stephaneum in Aschersleben and passed the final examination (Abitur) in 1934. After high school, he enrolled as a student at Frederick William University in East Berlin, studying astronomy, mathematics and physics. His teachers there included Paul ten Bruggencate and August Kopff in astronomy, Erhard Schmidt in mathematics and Max von Laue in physics.
In 1935, he published his first astronomy papers. These were critiques of Edwin Hubble's studies made at Mount Wilson Observatory on the distribution of spiral nebulae. In 1939, while resident at the Göttingen Observatory, he received his doctorate with a thesis titled Influence of a resisting agent in the dynamics of dense stellar systems (Einfluß eines widerstehenden Mittels in der Dynamik dichter Sternsysteme). He obtained a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, which was arranged with the help of British theoretical cosmologist Dr George C. McVittie, which was due to start on 1 October 1939 but had to be cancelled because of the start of World War II in September 1939. On 1 May 1940 he started work at Hamburg Observatory, and later in that year was drafted into the Signal Corps (Nachrichtentruppe). On 15 May 1941 he was posted to Inspektorate 7, the cipher bureau of the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) high command, although as an astronomer he knew nothing about cryptography and cryptanalysis. Professor Otto Heckmann, director of the Hamburg Observatory, tried to lure him back to continue working on problems specifically related to war work that he had been occupied with before he was drafted: tables of air and ship navigation, aerodynamic problems for aeroplanes traveling at speeds over 1300 km/hour as well as rockets flying at speeds of more than 3000 km/hour. These were purely solutions to differential equations which were allocated to various institutions for solving.
A minor planet discovered on 15 February 1941 by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth in Heidelberg was named "1561 Fricke" in his honour. In 1942 he was appointed the assistant astronomer at the Hamburg Observatory at Bergedorf, but could only take the position up in 1946 due to conscription.
In 1943 Fricke married Marianne Fricke (née Traute). They had a daughter, Maxi-Marianne Fricke. His wife Marianne died in 1987.
In 1951, he received his habilitation from University of Hamburg. In 1953, after receiving a fellowship from the German Science Foundation, he went to the United States for a year, working at the Yerkes, Mount Wilson, Palomar and Princeton University Observatories. After returning, he became a tenured member (Wissenschaftlicher Rat) of the Hamburg Observatory. In December 1954, Dr Fricke was made the provisional director of the Astronomical Calculation Institute in Heidelberg. Heidelberg University appointed him an honorary professor in 1955 and a personal full professor in 1958. In 1961 he became a regular full professor of theoretical astronomy at Heidelberg.
Fricke served as president of the International Astronomical Union Commissions 4 (1958–1964) and 8 (1970–1973), and as vice president of the IAU from 1964 to 1967.
On 1 April 1983 he retired as professor emeritus. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Fricke stayed on as Director of the Institute until 30 September 1985, and continued his scientific work until he was hospitalized with cancer in 1987.