Memories of the history of the GDCh Division of the Chemistry of Construction Materials

Dear construction chemists,

At the 3rd International Conference on the Chemistry of Construction Materials - ^3rd ICCCM for short - I saw for the first time an advantage of the corona pandemic: I was able to attend the Online General Assembly of the Division . I certainly wouldn't have driven to XY. Even if this medium doesn't allow for many things, this contact is better than no contact at all.

For me, it was also a look back at the beginning of the Division of the Chemistry of Construction Materials. I have fond memories of that time. At the beginning there was the initiative of the GDCh Managing Directors, represented by Dr. Behret. They invited people to the GDCh Office in Frankfurt for exploratory talks.

 

• the industry/“Deutsche chemistry of construction materials”, Mr Schröter and
• science/ represented by me.

Mr Schröter and I were initially somewhat hesitant when it came to the GDCh's initiative. But things got rolling. Through discussions, meetings of GDCh members interested in construction chemistry in Frankfurt and elections, a "GDCh Working Group" was formed according to the GDCh's rules. I was elected chairman, probably in 1994. The "German chemistry of construction materials" was initially extremely skeptical about this. For example, Dr Behret and I were invited to Altötting by the then chairman of the "German chemistry of construction materials", Mr Poech, for a discussion. The discussions could not prevent our founding, and we did not let the invitational person take away the term "chemistry of construction materials" from our name.

In November 1996, the Working Group held its first event, a workshop in Hünfeld near Fulda. Even then, I was keen to ensure that the lectures were printed in a way that was citable. The first conference proceedings were published (GDCh Monograph Vol. 7). That remained the case during my time and beyond. We did not yet know of an impact factor. We assessed the scientists according to more general criteria. The point system came later, perhaps from football?

In 1997, the GDCh promoted us from a Working Group to a Division . We had done satisfactory work. The new board members were: Prof. Dr. Knöfel (University of Siegen; Chair), Prof. Dr. Hummel (Knauf Gips; deputy Chair), Dr. Akstinat (Holderchem, CH), Prof. Dr. Cammenga (TU Braunschweig) and Prof. Dr. Hiller (TU Munich). The profile of the Division increased. The number of members increased, as the current specialist group chairman Dr. Frank Winnefeld reported (at some point) on over 300 at the 2021 General Assembly. We held three Conferences (1997 in Munich, 1999 in Siegen and 2001 in Würzburg, accordingly three conference volumes/GDCh monographs Vol. 11, Vol. 15 and Vol. 24 were published under the title "chemistry of construction materials - from Research to Practice". I retired in the summer of 2001, and my time as Chair ended in the autumn of the same year. I had capable colleagues in all areas, to whom I owe a great deal of gratitude. For me it was a fulfilling time that I look back on fondly.

The train was put on the track and it was rolling. The train driver was changed, Prof. Dr. Cammenga came and others followed and have successfully led the Division to this day. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has maintained and expanded the success of the Division with their work over the past few years. First and foremost, of course, I mean the board members of the past five election periods - with their chairmen at the top. Five election periods - 20 years - that is how long ago I retired from active participation.

Of course, the Board cannot work without active members, so the many members whose contributions make the life of the specialist group so important deserve my full recognition and thanks. I wish the Division a successful future.

Children have a father, sometimes several fathers, sometimes no one wants to admit it. In our Division of the Chemistry of Construction Materials, none of the fathers involved will want to deny their involvement. There were many fathers and everyone will look at the children and grandchildren and their work with gratitude and a little pride.

Dietbert Knoefel
Berlin, 16 March 2021