Prior to the German Society for Electron Microscopy e.V.

The history of the German Society for Electron Microscopy (DGE e.V.) actually begins with the technical development of the electron microscope in Germany. The pioneers of electron microscopy were also involved in the founding of the DGE. After the Second World War, three centers for electron microscopy emerged in the Federal Republic of Germany during the post-war years, which are the group led by Prof. E. Ruska (Siemens) in Berlin, the group led by Prof. Brüche (Süddeutsche Laboratorien, a subsidiary of AEG) in Mosbach/Baden, and the Society for Ultramicroscopy e.V., formed on the initiative of Prof. Bodo von Borries, in Düsseldorf.

The foundation of the German Society for Electron Microscopy e.V.

Prof. Brüche organized a first conference on electron microscopy in Mosbach in April 1949. His aim was to facilitate the founding of a German Society for Electron Microscopy. Finally on February 16, 1949, Prof. Bodo von Borries organized the founding meeting of the DGE in Düsseldorf.

Prof. Bodo von Borries

Prof. Ruska

Prof. Brüche

Prof. Pfefferkorn

Founding members of the DGE – Meeting in Düsseldorf on February 2nd, 1949

Among the founding members are:

Kehler, Mahl, Seeliger, van Murwyck, Kinder, Recknagel, Bernard, Brüche, Kossel, Pfefferkorn, Ruska, Möllenstedt, von Borries, Sommerfeld, Rang, Kikuth, Gottsacker, Schönhöfer, Wiester, Seifert, Haussmann, Haardick, Flesch, Rühle, Jung, Radczewski, Langenwalter, Grün, Peters, Koch, Ruthemann, Wolpers, Schrader and numerous more

The first Executive Board of the DGE was composed as follows:

It was decided that the conference planned by Prof. Brüche in Mosbach on April 23–24, 1949 to be the first DGE-organized conference.
Extensive list of DGE-organized conferences (Link).

Scientific contributions and work groups

As the development of electron microscopy has continued, many more application fields emerged. This was addressed by organizing the DGE into specialized work groups. In 1967, the work group on microprobes was founded, followed by the work groups EDO (1969), Cryo (1987), and scanning tunneling microscopy (1989). The current DGE work groups are found here.

Honorary members

The DGE honors members who have made outstanding contributions to electron microscopy and to the DGE by awarding them honorary memberships. The list of honorary members of the DGE is found here.

Historical instrumentation

• Commented overview of historical electron microscopes
• Commented overview of historical ultramicrotomes

Members

To date, the DGE has around 700 members. Since January 30, 1998, the DGE has also been represented on the internet in order to provide interested parties and members with quick access to current information.

Information on how to become a member is found here: membership.