On the occasion of the 95th birthday of Prof. Wolfgang Torge (born June 1931) and the 85th birthday of Prof. Günter Seeber (born February 1941), the two jubilarians were honored with a colloquium at Leibniz University Hannover. Jürgen Müller presented some highlights of their great work. Both shaped developments at the Institute of Geodesy at Leibniz University Hannover for decades. In the 1980s, Prof. Torge procured the first absolute gravimeter in Germany and used it in campaigns for geodetic and geophysical applications, accompanied by associated analysis and gravity field modelling. Gravimetry campaigns have been carried out in Iceland, China and South America, for example. His extensive international commitment, including as President of the International Association for Geodesy, was also recalled. Prof. Seeber was a pioneer of the geodetic use of GPS in Germany and used it in many international measurement campaigns. He developed the robotic calibration of GNSS antennas, which is now a standard. These activities formed the starting point of successful research at the Institute of Geodesy to this day, up to the use of quantum technology and relativistic geodesy for gravity field observation and navigation.
It is not surprising that the two jubilarians have continued some of their activities to this day. Only the production of a new edition of the Geodesy book by Prof. Torge in 2023 (together with Jürgen Müller and Roland Pail) should be mentioned, another edition is planned for 2027. Prof. Seeber has continued his decades-long commitment to Brazil. At the end of last year, he was the keynote speaker at the 40th anniversary of the geodesy education in Recife, which he helped to introduce in 1985.
