A realistic visionary is how Eveline Gottzein can be appropriately described. But
above all, she was ambitious, had a very strong will and was exceptionally tough,
she also said that about herself. Giving up wasn't her thing. These characteristics
must have led to an article about her being published in “Der Spiegel” in 1966. There
(Morlok, Spiegel 04/1966, well worth reading) the author suggested that the third
stage of the Europa rocket actually deserved the name “Eveline”. Unfortunately, she
was not granted this, but she was later awarded the Werner-von-Siemens-Ring for,
among other things, world-first developments in magnetic levitation vehicles. She
also received the Federal Cross of Merit and many other national and international
awards. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics elected her as a
“Fellow”. On her sixtieth birthday, none other than Ludwig Bölkow personally gave
the laudatory speech. At that time, her department “Control Systems and Simulation”
was a world-famous and respected center in the space community, especially in the
field of spacecraft guidance and control systems.
The character traits mentioned above were reflected also outside of technical and
scientific activities. In 1990 she climbed Mont Blanc and descended by skis. At the
annual Guidance and Control Conference in Breckenridge, the steepest and
bumpiest slopes always had to be conquered during the session breaks.
Even after her official retirement in the early 1990s, she did not give up her
professional work - quite the opposite. She initiated and guided the development of a
very innovative spaceborne GPS receiver that was designed for geostationary orbit
altitude. The so-called MosaicGPS receiver was often used in low Earth orbits and
finally flew in geostationary orbit a few years ago.
The feasibility of technical ideas and projects was always a top priority for Eveline;
fantasies had no place. On the other hand, she was always very open to new
technologies and research. And she was able to link the two together and derive a
strategic approach from this. In the mid 1980s she became a lecturer at the
University of Stuttgart and later, in 1996, an honorary professor. She performed this
role until she was no longer able to do so for health reasons. Until the end, she was
always very interested in the developments at the University of Stuttgart.
Eveline had a large international network, as one would say today. In most cases
this went beyond pure business. She maintained friendly relationships with many
colleagues from all over the world, especially in the USA and Japan. It almost
seemed like a family. There were many interesting, high-ranking personalities among
them, for example employees of NASA, the famous Lockheed Skunk Works, and
engineering scientists behind the legendary Gravity Probe B satellite.
Despite all her successes, she always remained down to Earth and was never
arrogant. She was more interested in people than one might have expected at first
glance, and she was tolerant and open. As soon as you recognized her sense of
humor, you could really appreciate it. Promoting young people was particularly
important to her.
Eveline Gottzein died on Christmas Eve. She was 92 years old. I have the greatest
respect for her achievements and personally owe her a great deal of gratitude. I am
sure that I am not the only one who will always think of the beautiful and eventful
work with her with an inner smile.
Walter Fichter
Institut of Flight Mechanics and Controls, University of Stuttgart
December 28, 2023