Born 1958 in Alzey. Study of physics, University of Heidelberg, PhD in astronomy at Heidelberg State Observatory (1987), research associate, Heidelberg State Observatory (1987-1990), NATO fellow at the University of Oxford (1990/1991), German Habilitation (1991), staff member of Heidelberg State Observatory (1991-1994), Full Professor of Astronomy at the University of Munich (since 1994), managing director of University Observatory Munich (1998-2003), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (since 2002), B. L. Tinsley Centennial Visiting Professor at University of Texas (2004-2005).