Bringing law and order to the cytoskeleton and cell junctions: an interview with Werner Franke.

PC: Where were you born? WWF: I was born on Jan 31, 1940 during the fi rst weeks of the World War 2, in Paderborn, the place of a thousand springs, one of the oldest cities in Germany, an important place, a King’s palace or Pfalz in the days of Charlemagne. I attended the local high school, the gymnasium, as we call it, one of the oldest schools in Germany that was donated by Pope Leo the 3 rd and of course had a theological focus. In 799 AD he had been thrown out of Rome and came to Charlemagne in Paderborn. They returned to Rome to reinstate him and in return Pope Leo gave Charlemagne two things: fi rst the title: Heiliges R ö misches Reich Deutscher Nation (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) and second, the school, which was founded in 806 AD. PC: What was the major factor infl uencing you to go into science? WWF: I and my classmate and sports club friend Theo Plesser were reading science books and doing experiments together on the side in school. He then studied physics and went on to become a Professor at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund. Initially, I too leaned towards physics. But during my studies in Heidelberg I realized it was then still technically impossible to answer the questions that I had in mind, so I switched to biological applications of physics. As you know I am fascinated by optics. I did my University Diploma in four areas: botany, zoology, chemistry and I particularly enjoyed physics.