Franco-German Research Institute Saint-Louis

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Franco-German Research Institute Saint-Louis
Institut franco-allemand de recherches de Saint-Louis
(ISL)
logo
purpose Research and Development
Seat Saint-Louis
founding March 31, 1958

Members GermanyGermany Germany FranceFranceFrance 
Employee 400 employees, 75% French, 25% German
Website www.isl.eu

The Franco-German Research Institute Saint-Louis, (Institut franco-allemand de recherches de Saint-Louis) short ISL , is a binational institute for security and defense research in Saint-Louis, Alsace, with one French and one German director.

The institute, which today employs around 400 people, has specialist knowledge in the fields of detonics , ballistics , high-speed measurement , sensors , acoustics , lasers , nanoparticles and improvised explosive devices. It holds numerous patents and issues licenses worldwide. It was founded - in its binational form - through a Franco-German agreement that was signed on March 31, 1958 and ratified on June 17, 1959.

founding

After the end of the Second World War in May 1945, the victorious powers became increasingly interested in German scientists. France focused particularly on the ballistics from the research institute of the Technical Academy of the Air Force in Biberach an der Riss (originally in Berlin , relocated during the war) under the direction of Hubert Schardin . As a doctoral student at Carl Cranz, he had acquired extensive knowledge in the field of short-term physics and, with his staff, was far ahead of the rest of the world in terms of capturing fast processes through photography and cinematography with the help of electric sparks and the development of the explosive charge .

When the French troops under Commander Lutz marched into Biberach in April 1945, it was initially only planned to confiscate apparatus and technical objects from the institute, above all the spark slow- motion camera , the most important measuring instrument used by German ballistic experts. At the same time, however, the Americans, under the leadership of Colonel Leslie E. Simon from the Ballistic Research Laboratory , Aberdeen Proving Ground, made Professor Schardin and seven of his best employees the offer to go to the USA . Schardin initially refused because he did not want to split up the research group. In order to prevent further poaching by the Americans, Schardin and his colleagues were offered by France on June 1, 1945, to work for the Laboratoire Central de l'Armement (LCA) in Versailles near Paris . Schardin, ten of his employees and several assistants accepted.

However, the settlement of German scientists in Paris - less than a year after the withdrawal of the German occupation troops from the French capital - was viewed as politically too sensitive. For example, an abandoned factory site in Saint-Louis, Alsace, in the border triangle between Germany, France and Switzerland, was chosen as the research center. On August 1, 1945, twelve weeks after the defeat of Germany, 32 German scientists started work as French state employees in Saint-Louis. The French General Robert Cassagnou became the director of the institute . It was clear from the employment contracts that France was interested in using the know-how of German researchers they had acquired during the war years and continuing their work to their own advantage.

“As far as the scientific results are concerned, it doesn't matter where we work if we only get the opportunity and the means. There is neither a special German physics nor a special French "

- Hubert Schardin on June 20, 1945

Schardin and the other scientists lived with their families in the nearby German town of Weil am Rhein . The approximately 20-minute transport from the German side to the institute in France was made possible by a sealed bus. The acceptance of the German scientists was initially viewed with skepticism in the community, as they took up living space, received double food rations, were able to buy in French shops (where there was a wider range of goods than on the free market) and thus gave the impression of a closed society .

Although the Saint-Louis location was initially only intended as a temporary solution, the research activities were continuously expanded as the institute slowly established itself due to the quality of the work and the motivation of the employees and gave rise to further investments.

The scientists included Hugo Neuert and Ewald Fünfer , who were given the opportunity to work in the field of nuclear physics , which research institutions in post-war Germany were forbidden until 1955.

Binational founding agreement

When the Bundeswehr was established in Germany in the mid-1950s , the situation arose that the best German scientists in the field of arms research worked exclusively for the French Ministry of Defense . The young Federal Republic also had to ensure its own security and needed specialists in this field of its own. It was therefore considered to bring the German researchers back from the ISL. However, France was not ready to give up its influence on the institute, especially since Schardin himself did not want to leave the institute. After the Federal Republic of Germany integrated itself into the NATO member states in 1954 , Schardin and Cassagnou wanted to be able to make the findings and research work available to German science in the future, and suggested that it be converted into a binational institution. As a result, a Franco-German commission was founded in the Federal Ministry of Defense in 1955, not least to promote the construction of Europe.

On March 31, 1958 - after two years of negotiations - an agreement was agreed between Germany and France, with which the institute could start its work on June 22, 1959 under the name Franco-German Research Institute Saint-Louis ISL . Defense Ministers Jacques Chaban-Delmas and Franz Josef Strauss signed the contract in Saint-Louis. Hubert Schardin became the German director alongside the French director General Cassagnou. Legally, the institute was partly built on a unique system of binational regulations that still apply today: labor law has been replaced by an in-house staff statute; the budget has to be approved by both governments, while building laws are governed by French law.

After the establishment, which can also be seen as a cornerstone for Franco-German relations , the workforce increased to 460 employees of both nationalities within ten years. The research concentrated on defense technology in the areas of shaped charge projectiles and anti-tank missiles . One of the most successful developments was the manufacture of the wire-guided anti-tank missile ENTAC .

After Schardin was appointed head of the defense technology department in the Federal Ministry of Defense in 1964, he died a year later. Cassagnou, who had developed a friendship with Schardin during the years of collaboration, had retired that same year.

Development until today

In the 1970s, basic and applied research determined scientific work. Laser impulse technology was used, holography was further developed. In the 1980s, research was carried out in the field of armor protection and armor penetration and the electromagnetic cannon was further developed. In 1992 a large wind tunnel was put into operation, in which a permanent air flow of Mach 4.4 can be generated.

In recent years the institute has adopted a new strategy focusing on anti- terrorism applications . The ISL also has major contracts with the French and US armies. The latter is also interested in collaborating on the electric cannon.

Overall, the ISL wants to open up to a broader European base. The expansion of the dual activities - that is, both militarily and civilly usable - and Europeanization are planned in order to expand as a European research institution.

Directors of the ISL

German directors
# Surname Duration
1 Hubert Schardin 1958-1964
2 Richard Emil Kutterer 1965-1969
3 Rudi Schall 1969-1979
4th Ulrich Vogel 1979-1989
5 Hans Schulte 1989-1998
6th Hermann Sitterberg 1998-2003
7th Volker Schmitt 2004-2007
8th Michael Weiand 2007-2010
9 Wolfgang Forster 2010-2014
10 Thomas Czirwitzky 2014–
French directors
# Surname Duration
1 Robert Cassagnou 1945-1965
2 Andre Auriol 1965-1978
3 Pierre Thevenin 1978-1984
4th Maurice Meunier 1984-1995
5 Jean-Yves De Longeville 1998-2002
6th Dominique Litaise 2002-2006
7th Alain Pique 2006-2010
8th Christian de Villemagne 2010–

literature

  • Ansbert Baumann: The establishment of the Institut Saint-Louis. In: Ulrich Pfeil (Ed.): German-French cultural and scientific relationships in the 20th century. An institutional history approach. Munich 2007, pp. 237-256.
  • Rudi Schall: From laboratory to institute. A chronicle of the creation of the Saint-Louis Institute. Internal publication of the Institut de Saint-Louis 1988.
  • Günter Weihrauch: From the beginnings of ballistic research at the ISL. Ballistic research in the ISL 1945–1994. Festschrift in honor of Richard Emil Kutterer on the occasion of his 90th birthday, Saint-Louis 1994, pp. 23–27.
  • Städtisches Museum am Lindenplatz Weil am Rhein (Hrsg.): The scientists. Weil am Rhein 1995.
  • Paul Bernard Munch, Robert Cassagnou - Hubert Schardin a Saint-Louis (1945-1965), Editions Wilo, Saint Louis, 2019, ISBN 979-10-97215-13-2 [1] .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ ISL, official website , information on the institute (French), accessed on August 1, 2010
  2. ↑ a b Virginie Vendamme: Teamwork for safety. Documents - magazine for the German-French dialogue. Issue 1/09, p. 53.
  3. ↑ Ansbert Baumann: Les Balisticiens allemands au service de la France après 1945. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Cahiers du Center d'Études d'Histoire de la Défense, issue 33/08. Pp. 53-64 , archived from the original on December 1, 2008 ; Retrieved May 17, 2009 .
  4. ^ Municipal Museum at Lindenplatz Weil am Rhein (ed.): The scientists. Weil am Rhein 1995, p. 25.
  5. ↑ Research should not be left by the wayside. In: Badische Zeitung. October 2, 2014, accessed March 22, 2018 .