200 years Heinrich Hertz: The pioneer of wireless communication

200 years Heinrich Hertz: The pioneer of wireless communication

On May 15, 2025, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) can look back on the important contributions from Heinrich Hertz to modern communication technology. Hertz taught from 1885 to 1889 at the Technical University of Karlsruhe, the predecessor of today's Kit. During this time, he carried out decisive experiments to electromagnetic waves, which laid the foundation for wireless communication and significantly influenced the development of radio technology. His surprising discoveries proved that electromagnetic waves behave similarly to light waves and spread at the speed of light.

Hertz was skeptical about Karlsruhe, but he found the laboratory there excellently equipped, which offered him the opportunity to advance his research. His experiments took place in the KIT Heinrich Hertz Hooky Hearing Hoard, where he used a sparkling spark course as a transmitter and a slit wire ring as a recipient. On November 11, 1886, he observed for the first time the spread of an electromagnetic wave and showed waves with frequencies between 1000 and 300 MHz.

influence on radio technology

The work of Hertz and his predecessor Ferdinand Braun, who worked in Karlsruhe from 1883 to 1885, are of enormous importance for radio technology. Braun, known for the development of the electron tube named after it, improved the system for frequency vote for transmitters and recipients. This progress led to wireless transmission of signals over major distances. In 1901 the first transatlantic radio transmission succeeded that showed the practical applications of Hertz ’discoveries.

Hertz never thought of practical applications of his work. After his death in 1894, only 36 years old, there were already regular radio services over long distances. Today the unit of measurement of the frequency, Hertz (Hz), has immortalized its name forever, and its heir lives on in the area of ​​high -frequency technology.

the legacy of Heinrich Hertz

Heinrich Hertz not only left academic success, but also a family after having married the daughter of a colleague. After four years in Karlsruhe, he moved to Bonn after he had rejected appointments to Berlin, watering and even America. His final resting place is in Hamburg, the city of its birth. The KIT is proud to count Hertz in his academic ancestral series and emphasizes the relevance of basic research for society.

Today the kit employs around 10,000 people and has 22,800 students. It is one of the German excellence universities that deals with global challenges in the areas of energy, mobility and information and thus continues to rely on the inheritance of visionary scientists like Heinrich Hertz.

For more information about the important contributions from Hertz to the communications society, read the articles by kit , Uni Marburg and Kit Pi .