Wilhelm Runge
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Tolmé Runge was an electrical engineer and physicist who had a major involvement in developing radar
systems in Germany.
and the infamous trench warfare
. By early 1917, he had reached the rank of Sergeant and was rescued from likely death by being selected by Lieutenant Richard Courant – a friend of his father – to go to occupied northern France and assist in developing the earth telegraph, a seismic apparatus.
) in physics from the University of Göttingen. In 1923, while pursuing his academic studies, he started working at Telefunken
, and in 1926, joined their development laboratory in Berlin.
and Nationalism took a strong hold in Telefunken. While there is no evidence that Runge was personally involved in this, he was being promoted rapidly, so he must have been at least aware of the situation. If this was the case, it was ironic; Dr. Richard Courant
, the man who ‘saved’ him from the trenches during WWI, was himself a Jew and had to flee Germany.
s. With the antennas placed flat on the ground some distance apart, he arranged for an aircraft to fly overhead and found that the receiver gave a strong Doppler
-beat interference signal.
Runge, with Hans Hollmann as a consultant, then developed a 1.8-m (170-MHz) system using pulse-modulation. Wilhelm Stepp, an engineer on the research staff, designed a transmit-receive device (a duplexer) for allowing a common antenna. Stepp also code-named the system Darmstadt after his home town, starting the practice in Telefunken of naming systems after cities. The Darmstadt, with only a few watts transmitter power, was first tested in February 1936, detecting an aircraft at about 5-km (3-mi) distance. This led the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) to fund Telefunken for the development of a 50-cm (600-MHz) gun laying
system, the Würzburg
.
Company. The Würzburg was demonstrated to Adolf Hitler
in July 1939. Runge was justifiably proud of this system; it came to be the primary mobile, gun-laying system used by the Luftwaffe and the Heer (German Army) during WWII.
In early 1941, the Luftverteidigung (Air Defense) recognized the need for Funkmessgerät on their night-fighter aircraft. The requirements were given to Runge at Telefunken, and by the summer a prototype system was tested. Code-named Lichtenstein
, this was a 62-cm (485-MHz), 1.5-kW system, generally based on the technology now well established by Telefunken for the Würzburg. The Lichtenstein had an excellent minimum 200-m minimum range (important for air-to-air combat) and a 4-km maximum range. The first production models became available from Telefunken in February 1942.
(higher academic degree), earning him the title of Professor. Until his retirement in 1963, he established and managed the Telefunken Research Instititute in Ulm.
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
systems in Germany.
Early life
Wilhelm Runge was born and raised in Hannover, where his father, Carl Runge, was a well-known professor of mathematics at the Technische Hochschule Hannover.Military service
When World War I started, he was not doing well in his engineering studies and, in 1915, volunteered into the German Army. Unsuccessful in officer training, he was sent to the Western FrontWestern Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
and the infamous trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
. By early 1917, he had reached the rank of Sergeant and was rescued from likely death by being selected by Lieutenant Richard Courant – a friend of his father – to go to occupied northern France and assist in developing the earth telegraph, a seismic apparatus.
Education
At the close of the war, Runge, now highly motivated by his adverse military experience, returned to academic studies. He eventually earned the Doctor of Engineering (Electrical) degree from the Technical University at Darmstadt, and was later in life also awarded the higher academic degree (the HabilitationHabilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
) in physics from the University of Göttingen. In 1923, while pursuing his academic studies, he started working at Telefunken
Telefunken
Telefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
, and in 1926, joined their development laboratory in Berlin.
Nationalism
In the early 1930s, AryanizationAryanization
Aryanization is a term coined during Nazism referring to the forced expulsion of so-called "non-Aryans", mainly Jews, from business life in Nazi Germany and the territories it controlled....
and Nationalism took a strong hold in Telefunken. While there is no evidence that Runge was personally involved in this, he was being promoted rapidly, so he must have been at least aware of the situation. If this was the case, it was ironic; Dr. Richard Courant
Richard Courant
Richard Courant was a German American mathematician.- Life :Courant was born in Lublinitz in the German Empire's Prussian Province of Silesia. During his youth, his parents had to move quite often, to Glatz, Breslau, and in 1905 to Berlin. He stayed in Breslau and entered the university there...
, the man who ‘saved’ him from the trenches during WWI, was himself a Jew and had to flee Germany.
Research
At Telefunken’s development laboratory, Runge experimented with high-frequency transmitters and had the tube department working on cm-wavelength devices. In the summer of 1935, Runge, now Director of Telefunken’s Radio Research Laboratory, initiated an internally funded project in radio-based detection technology. A-50 cm (600-MHz) receiver and 0.5-W transmitter were built, both using Barkhausen-Kurz tubeBarkhausen-Kurz tube
The Barkhausen-Kurz tube, also called the B-K oscillator, was commonly used in early electronic systems operating in the ultra-high frequency portion of the radio spectrum.-Development:...
s. With the antennas placed flat on the ground some distance apart, he arranged for an aircraft to fly overhead and found that the receiver gave a strong Doppler
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect , named after Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes from...
-beat interference signal.
Runge, with Hans Hollmann as a consultant, then developed a 1.8-m (170-MHz) system using pulse-modulation. Wilhelm Stepp, an engineer on the research staff, designed a transmit-receive device (a duplexer) for allowing a common antenna. Stepp also code-named the system Darmstadt after his home town, starting the practice in Telefunken of naming systems after cities. The Darmstadt, with only a few watts transmitter power, was first tested in February 1936, detecting an aircraft at about 5-km (3-mi) distance. This led the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) to fund Telefunken for the development of a 50-cm (600-MHz) gun laying
Gun laying
Gun laying is the process of aiming an artillery piece, such as a gun, howitzer or mortar on land or at sea against surface or air targets. It may be laying for direct fire, where the gun is aimed similarly to a rifle, or indirect fire, where firing data is calculated and applied to the sights...
system, the Würzburg
Würzburg radar
The Würzburg radar was the primary ground-based gun laying radar for both the Luftwaffe and the German Army during World War II. Initial development took place before the war, entering service in 1940. Eventually over 4,000 Würzburgs of various models were produced...
.
Development for military uses
Telefunken received a contract from the Luftwaffe in late 1938 to build the Würzburg for supporting anti-aircraft guns. The transmitter had a 2-μs pulse width and a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of about 4 kHz; the antenna used a 3-m parabolic reflector built by the ZeppelinZeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
Company. The Würzburg was demonstrated to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in July 1939. Runge was justifiably proud of this system; it came to be the primary mobile, gun-laying system used by the Luftwaffe and the Heer (German Army) during WWII.
In early 1941, the Luftverteidigung (Air Defense) recognized the need for Funkmessgerät on their night-fighter aircraft. The requirements were given to Runge at Telefunken, and by the summer a prototype system was tested. Code-named Lichtenstein
Lichtenstein radar
Lichtenstein radar was a German airborne radar in use during World War II. It was available in at least four major revisions, the FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C, FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1, FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 and FuG 228 Lichtenstein SN-3.- FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C :Early FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C...
, this was a 62-cm (485-MHz), 1.5-kW system, generally based on the technology now well established by Telefunken for the Würzburg. The Lichtenstein had an excellent minimum 200-m minimum range (important for air-to-air combat) and a 4-km maximum range. The first production models became available from Telefunken in February 1942.
Aviation research
In 1943, Runge was appointed to head the Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt (Aviation Research Institute) in Braunschweig. At the close of World War II in May 1945, he returned to Telefunken, which was located in the West Berlin occupied area. Here he spent the next several years in rebuilding the engineering department. In 1955, Runge was awarded the HabilitationHabilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
(higher academic degree), earning him the title of Professor. Until his retirement in 1963, he established and managed the Telefunken Research Instititute in Ulm.
General references
- Brown, Louis; A Radar History of World War II, Inst. of Physics Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0-7503-0659-9
- Muller, Werner; Ground Radar Systems of the German Luftwaffe to 1945, Schiffer Publishing , Ltd., 1998, ISBN 0-7643-0567-0
- Swords, Seán S.; Technical History of the Beginnings of Radar, Peter Peregrinus Ltd., 1986, ISBN 0-86341-043-X
- Watson, Raymond C., Jr,; Radar Origins Worldwide, Trafford Publishers, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4269-2110-0
- Literature by and about Wilhelm Tolmé Runge in the catalog of the German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...
External links
- Bauer, Arthur O.; “Some Aspects of German Airborne Radar Technology, 1942 to 1945,” DEHS Autumn Symposium, Sheivenham, Oct. 2006; http://www.cdcandt.org/airborne_radar.htp
- Goebel, Gregory V.; “The Wizard War: WW2 & The Origins of Radar,” a book-length document; http://www.vectorsite.net/ttwiz.html
- Hepcke, Gerhard; “The Radar War, 1930-1945,” translated by Hannah Liebmann; M. Holliman; http://www.radarwar.org/radarwar.pdf