We want to pay tribute to Prof Dieter Bernhard Herrmann^(*) who just passed away, and has been member and supporter of Space Renaissance International. He has worked as an astronomer, and he has been author of numerous popular science literature books on astronomy. In his scientific work he dealt, among other things, with the early development of astrophysics and the application of quantitative methods in the history of science.

In 1969, he obtained a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Humboldt University on the topic The Emergence of Astronomical Journals in Germany, 1798–1821. He was director of the Archenhold Observatory in Berlin-Alt-Treptow from 1976 to 2004.From 2006 until January 2012, he was president of the Leibniz-Sozietät (since 2007 Leibniz-Sozietät der Wissenschaften zu Berlin e.V.). In 2012, he was elected to the board of Urania e.V. Berlin.

On 18 May 2012, Prof. Herrmann was appointed honorary member of the Gesellschaft Deutschsprachiger Planetarien “for his extraordinary services to the communication of astronomical knowledge and for the development of the planetarium landscape in the German-speaking area”. Minor planet (103460) bears the name Dieterherrmann.

In 2019, Prof. Herrmann was awarded the prestigious Bruno H. Bürgel Prize of the Astronomische Gesellschaft for outstanding popular representations in the field of astronomy in the media. He has been a member of the advisory board of the Study Foundation of the Berlin House of Representatives since 1994 and was appointed a member of the board by its president in 2020.

Since 2008, Dieter has been married to the Berlin artist Sabine Heinz, who is now in the Board of Directors of Space Renaissance International.

We offer our condolences to Sabine, family and friends, and we look with our Space Renaissance members to expand on the vibrant legacy of Prof Dieter B. Herrmann.

Bernard Foing, Adriano Autino and members of Space Renaissance International

Ref ^(*): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_B._Herrmann