The truck transporting the crane arrives early on Wednesday, September 2. Grey clouds over Adlershof, but that doesn't stop the team from setting up the crane.
A new cooling tower flying to BESSY's roof
The crane is installed directly in front of the truck sluice of the storage ring hall.
The puzzle begins, the swivel arm (blue) is over 90m long.
The crane weighs 96 tons, plus additional 90 tons counterweight (see picture). The cooling tower itself weighs 2 tons.
Now all is ready and waiting for the mission to start on Thursday 3rd September.
Warming up : the frame on which the cooling tower will later stand is lifted onto the roof. It is Thursday before nine o'clock, the sky is blue, the sun is shining!
Even from the Ruska Ufer it can not be overlooked: there is something happening at BESSY II. Such a voluminous crane is used at HZB for the first time.
After a few final touches, the time has come: around 9:30 am the cooling tower is lifted into the air.
For the admirative observers it goes almost too fast. The cooling tower flies...
...and floats towards the BESSY II courtyard, over the green roof.
Straight as a die it goes towards the installation lot.
The installation team is already waiting there, now the precision work continues. Around 10:15 a.m. the cooling tower is in its designated place.
Let me introduce you to BESSY's fourth cooling tower!
Here a little sneak peak into the inside of the cooling tower.
Soon after the "exciting part" is over and the team starts dismantling again the crane. The parts are carefully disassembled and wait next to BESSY II for their next mission.
Early September a huge crane near BESSY II could be seen from afar. A series of pictures for you to discover the exciting installation of the fourth cooling tower.
"We have been planning this for more than a year," explains Christian Jung, who is coordinating the work with Ingo Müller during the shutdown of the electron storage ring BESSY II.
Both watch with great interest as the twelve specialists assemble the crane, attach the cooling tower, then swing it over the roof and finally install it. Both are certain that the transport of the fourth cooling tower works only with detailed planning and a great deal of precision. "We have never needed such a large crane before," says Ingo Müller. Some HZB colleagues come by, pull out cell phones and capture these moments: you don't see something like that every day.
The installation of the fourth cooling tower, which is now safely located in the courtyard in the middle of the ring building, is one of the biggest jobs during the shutdown.
Read more about the shutdown period: The shutdown at BESSY II: busy activity in the ring
Pictures: Christian Feiler, Ingo Müller and Florentine Krawatzek.
- BESSY II is back in operation after maintenance shutdownOn 7 September 2026, BESSY II was set into operation after a four-week shutdown. BESSY II is scheduled to resume full user operation on 22 September.
- 3D magnetic field experiment at BESSY II takes spintronics a step further(Fe0.63Ni0.3Pd0.07)3P or FNPP is a magnetic material that exhibits complex magnetic structures even at room temperature. This makes the material of interest for spintronics, a field that could enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. One potential application is novel magnetic memory devices. However, generating and modifying the desired structures in a controlled manner remains a challenge to date. A new study led by HZB has now taken a step forward in this regard. They demonstrated at the worldwide unique VEKMAG-Station at BESSY II, that a tiny external B-field in the plane of the magnetic patterns is sufficient to change them.
- Confirmed figures for the first time: Investments in BESSY are worthwhile for Berlin and GermanyAn impact analysis by DIW Econ demonstrates the scientific and economic value of BESSY II. Every euro invested yields three euros for Germany and as much as ten euros for the State of Berlin. Furthermore, the study provides an economic forecast for the construction of BESSY III.
The impact analysis was presented on 3 September 2026 to Dr Henry Marx, State Secretary for Science and Research in the Berlin Senate. He supports the investment and is a strong advocate for BESSY III.