Press release 12/01/2024

Inaugural Lecture by Prof. Dr. Eberhard Wendler

Event

To mark his appointment as Honorary Professor of Conservation Science at the Department of CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE, Prof. Dr. Eberhard Wendler will give his inaugural lecture entitled "Plausible chemical and physical auxiliary models for understanding material properties, weathering and conservation concepts".

The properties of individual materials and their interactions can be understood and predicted at a molecular level. Fundamental scientific disciplines (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) should not be considered in isolation from each other, but rather combined with each other in a meaningful way. Physics provides measurement data for strength, water absorption, elongation/shrinkage behaviour, adhesive force, burst pressure, density, electrical conductivity and flow behaviour. Chemistry enables us to understand these measured variables from the size and shape of the molecules involved and, via their polarity/charge and the type of bonding, the relationship to the forces and interactions that occur.

Prof. Dr Eberhard Wendler's constant struggle to understand complex material processes and the wealth of ideas he has developed in the process are a particular hallmark of his personality.

About the person
Dr Eberhard Wendler studied chemistry and obtained his doctorate at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Even before his doctorate, he joined the central laboratory of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in 1986, where he worked until 1988 as part of the major BMFT-funded research project "Stone decay – Stone conservation" under Prof. Dr. Rolf Snethlage with physical and chemical analysis to investigate weathering processes on monumental stones. This working group produced publications that still form an important basis for our knowledge of the weathering and conservation of porous mineral building materials in the preservation of monuments.
From 1988 to 1997, he was head of the stone working group at the Institute for General and Applied Geology at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich. During this time, his work led to the development and sustainable success of significant modifications to existing stone strengthening agents. These include the co-development of material systems to reduce the swelling of natural stone and the development of elasticised silicic acid esters for stone consolidation. In the 1980s and 1990s, both the central laboratory of the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and the institute at the LMU were important centres of expertise to which stone conservation owes important scientific impulses far beyond Germany.
In the early 1990s, Dr. Eberhard Wendler founded the Munich-based "Fachlabor für Konservierungsfragen in der Denkmalpflege" (Specialist Laboratory for Conservation Issues in Monument Preservation), which is still one of the most renowned centres of expertise for condition analysis, the creation of object-specific conservation concepts and the supervision of measures in the fields of natural stone, brick, ceramics, wall painting, plaster, mortar and artificial stone far beyond the borders of Germany.
Dr. Eberhard Wendler's scientific work is documented in an impressive number of German and international specialist publications and lectures. For many years, he has been heavily involved in the Wissenschaftlich-Technische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Bauwerkserhaltung und Denkmalpflege e.V. (WTA), where he has worked in various working groups for the creation of technical bulletins or led them in his critical and constructive scientific approach. He also heads the WTA's natural stone department.
One of Dr. Eberhard Wendler's greatest achievements is his constant willingness to engage in professional dialogue and pass on knowledge, which is also reflected in his many years of teaching at various universities and other national and international educational institutions.

Inaugural lecture
When: 16/01/2024, 6.00 pm
Where: House D / 011
Online: Participation via Zoom

The inaugural lecture is open to the public and embedded in the guest lecture series of the Conservation and Restoration degree programme. The event will take place in person and will be broadcast live in parallel. Interested parties are very welcome. Following the lecture, there will be a small reception in the foyer of House D.