History of the Albert Einstein Institute

The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) was founded in 1995 by the Max Planck Society for the purpose of pursuing research into the fundamental laws of gravitation.

The Institute was established in Brandenburg as part of the expansion of the Max Planck Society after the reunification of Germany. Its establishment was an initiative of one of its founding Directors, Jürgen Ehlers (1929-2008), who retired at the end of 1998. In 1999, the institute relocated from Potsdam to its new premises in the Golm Science Park, which is now known as the Potsdam Science Park. Golm was later incorporated into the city of Potsdam.

Since 2002, the AEI has had a branch institute at the University of Hannover (now Leibniz University Hannover), which focuses on data analysis, the study of fundamental interactions, and the development of gravitational-wave detectors on Earth and in space. The AEI in Hannover originated from the Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMP), founded by the Faculty of Physics at the University of Hannover in 1979.


AEI Directors

Emeritus Directors and former Directors

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