Erich Knözinger was born in Munich on March 11, 1939. After studying physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (1958-1964), he received his doctorate in natural sciences from the same university in 1966 with his dissertation entitled “Organic ion exchange resins as heterogeneous catalysts”.

After completing his doctorate, he initially worked for two years in Caracas/Venezuela as Profesor Asistente, Escuela de Física y Matemáticas at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. This was followed by two more years as a postdoc in the working group of Prof. Heinrich Noller at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. He then decided to move into industry and took up a position in the Application Technology and Training department at Beckman Instruments GmbH in Munich, where he was responsible for major new developments in the use of the Fourier method in the field of far infrared (FIR) spectroscopy. After Erich Knözinger returned to the academic world in 1975 as a lecturer in general and physical chemistry, he qualified as a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Siegen in 1976 and was appointed Professor of Physical Chemistry in 1981. In 1993, he accepted a full professorship in physical chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology, which he held until his retirement in 2007. At the same time, he also took over the management of the then Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, which later became the Institute of Materials Chemistry through a merger with other working groups.

Erich Knözinger's initial interest was in matrix isolation spectroscopy to study molecular clusters in cryogenic matrices as they can be generated using molecular beam methods. The behavior of the isolated clusters was of equal interest as the structure and morphology of the inert gas matrices in which the IR-active clusters were embedded. Related topics such as heterogeneous physico-chemical processes on atmospheric aerosols or the deposition of non-equilibrium solids from the gas phase to produce new catalyst materials became equally important components of his field of research. IR spectroscopy, electron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction played an important role in bridging the various topics. This ultimately led to Erich Knözinger transferring the process of gas phase deposition at temperatures of a few Kelvin to the production and deposition of nanoscale metal oxide particles in order to investigate fundamental nucleation and structure formation processes. His IR spectroscopic investigations of reactive oxide surfaces in particular earned him a great reputation in the surface chemistry of highly dispersed solids.

The high degree of flexibility in the selection of his scientific topics is demonstrated by the broad spectrum of his work in various scientific fields. These range from FIR spectroscopic investigations of molecules and clusters to surface chemistry and catalysis. Erich Knözinger was active in several very different fields and thus also in different scientific communities, and was highly regarded for his fundamental scientific work.

His work as a university lecturer was of outstanding importance to him. The meticulous preparation of his courses, his constant and scrutinizing attention to the separation between essential and less important knowledge content, and his sometimes combative advocacy for the meaningful composition of new curricula was respected by colleagues, staff and ultimately also by students. He was an enthusiastic and at the same time inspiring university lecturer for his staff, who represented the field of physical chemistry at TU Wien with full commitment for many years.

Erich Knözinger was a constructively critical observer of university processes and Austrian university policy. During his time at TU Wien, and sometimes unusual for Austrians, he addressed problems openly and bluntly and presented possible solutions and suggestions for improvement.

The colleagues who were lucky enough to work with him directly will also remember him as a sociable and humorous person. He loved languages and traveling. As a person and university lecturer, he was a role model and friend to many.

Erich Knözinger passed away on 27.12.2023 surrounded by his family. We remember him with respect and great gratitude for the time we spent together.

Oliver Diwald (Paris Lodron University Salzburg)

Hinrich Grothe

Günther Rupprechter