Roofing ceremony successful

Hopefully this was no bad omen: The glass, which engineer Ulf Koch had emptied to the health of the German Primate Center during the roofing ceremony on Monday, didn't break when he threw it to the ground from the first floor of the DPZ's new Multipurpose Building. Right before he had ended the poem accompanying the roofing ceremony with the verse: "Shards bring luck and blessings to the DPZ on all its ways."

The glass remained the only imperfection during the ceremony. The sun shone and the relatively mild temperatures in December produced a fine mood. At about 1 p.m. the DPZ's administrative manager Michael Lankeit welcomed the guests with a humorous statement: "Roofing ceremonies are usually meant to celebrate the erected roof - as we have a flat-top building, ours is rather a ceiling ceremony." Then Ulf Koch continued with his poem while the wreath was hauled to the roof. "At all times shall aid be given here to people who are sickness-stricken", Koch rhymed, thus referring to the biomedical research at the DPZ which includes studies on illnesses like HIV/AIDS.

After the ceremony the employees of the DPZ used the opportunity to have a glance at the rough-and-ready building while they enjoyed a hearty lunch. The spacious building already conveyed an impression of the comfortable atmosphere it will provide in the future. The project is also advancing according to schedule. "We are very happy with the progress and expect to move into the finished building before the end of 2014" commented Stefan Treue, director of the DPZ. The building will include a central lecture hall, seminar rooms, rooms for the management, the administration and staff units as well as for two scientific junior research groups. The DPZ pays the costs of about 10 million Euros completely without public money, as the income generated by a patented scientific method developed at the DPZ suffices to finance the building.