On 22 May 2025, we celebrated Gabriele Auer's 66th birthday and her retirement. She was Professor Schön's long-standing assistant. It speaks for itself that so many colleagues and even former doctoral students from the Institute came to celebrate her and say goodbye in person.
Wolfgang Schön praised Ms Auer in his laudatory speech both as a personal assistant and as a personality: she combined the qualities of dedication, intelligence and loyalty. The “good spirit” of the institute was happy to pull all the strings and was also the first point of contact for many employees, who could turn to her at any time with questions and concerns of all kinds. She knew everyone and everything and never rested until things were done. One of the last things she did before retiring with a smile and a tear in her eye was to hand over her workplace and her enormous wealth of experience to her successor. Professor Schön is now looking forward to working more closely with Simone Wenisch, who has been established as an assistant to the management at the MPI for several years.
Visibly touched by the many thoughtful and elaborate farewell gifts and all the attention she received, Ms Auer thanked all her colleagues for their excellent cooperation. In her retirement, she intends to follow the example of German singer Udo Jürgens, because "66 is far from finished'!
May 2025