Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Heinz Bethge 15.11.1919 - 9.05.2001 Heinz Bethge was born on November 15th 1919 in Magdeburg. He studied physics interrupted by war duty in 1939 and from 1942 at the Technical University Berlin-Charlottenburg and after the war at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Here, he received his Diploma in physics and his Ph.D. in 1954 (Development and Construction of a Laboratory Electron Microscope and Application of Electron Microscopy on Questions of the Real Structure of Stone Salt). He defended his Habilitation in 1960 and the topic was 'Investigations on the Structure of Cleaved Surfaces of Stone Salt'. In the same year he became Professor and founded the working group on electron microscopy in Halle, the incubator for the Institute of Solid State Physics and Electron Microscopy of the Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic. This Institute flourished and became internationally recognized under his guidance for more than 25 years until his retirement in 1985. After the German reunification it became the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics. As president (1974 – 1990) of the German Academy of Natural Scientists (LEOPOLDINA), Heinz Bethge contributed profoundly to the development of sciences all over Germany, both in east and west. The scientific carrier of Heinz Bethge is related to research on atomic and molecular processes of surfaces of solids and the understanding of the basics of the crystalline real structure. Critical values of surface physics as diffusion lengths of atomic or molecular building units or the mobility of atomic defects were studied with electron microscopic techniques that were developed in his Institute. His basic research on question of adsorption and epitaxy on interfaces and thin films has also influenced applied research, e.g. in the field of solid state electronics. The research of Heinz Bethge and members of his group on the understanding of the real structure of crystalline materials and their mechanical properties was internationally highly recognized. He was successful in solving simultaneously theoretical, experimental and methodological questions. The term of 'Imaging Surface Analytics' is linked with his name. Heinz Bethge received many honours as: 1967 National Price, Class II 1984 Dr.h.c. Technical University Chemnitz 1987 Gustav Hertz Medal of the German Physical Society of GDR 1989 Honour Member of the German Society for Electron Microscopy 1990 Helmholtz Medal of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy 1992 Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Stern 1999 National Price of the National Foundation 1999 Honour Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 2000 Honour member of the German Physical Society Sources: "Nachruf auf Heinz Bethge", von Johannes Heydenreich, Phys. Blätter 57 (2001) Nr. 9, 64-65 "Labor und Persönlichkeit - Das Politische in der Naturforschung", von Konrad Lindner und Peter Kirsten,Deutschlandradio Berlin, Zeitreisen, 2001 "In Memoriam Heinz Bethge", von Ulrich Hoffmann, Leibniz-Sozietät e.V. Berlin, Leibniz-Tag 2002