Introduction
On the 24th of November 2012, Berthold Alefeld passed away after a long illness, at the age of 75 years. Bert, as he was known amongst his colleagues, was a major driver in the development of the neutron backscattering technique.
In the early 70s, Bert came to Jülich, Germany, after he finished his PhD in 1968 with H. Maier-Leibnitz in Munich. He worked for more than 30 years at the Institut für Festkörperforschung (IFF) at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, and was heavily engaged in Jülich's research developments. Research was his passion. He was involved in many instrumental developments using neutrons. In recent years, he used X-ray optics developed for satellites for novel focussing neutron small-angle techniques. His innovative ideas contributed to Jülich's reputation in neutron instrumentation developments. Even after his retirement in 2001, he was sought after and valued for his advice.
The freedom of science was always more important to him than economic or political opportunities. He was a smart person with integrity who had his own views and an appreciation for fair-play, providing a role model for young researchers. The neutron community will miss him. Our condolences go to his family and colleagues in the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science.