InternalFirst tunnel and borer christening ceremony
Date: Wednesday, 30 June 2010, 11:00 am
Location: Schenefeld construction site, Holzkoppel 4
Content of this page
Tunnelfest | Programme | Organizational issues | Registration
This event is by invitation and registration only.
Tunnelfest
The tunnel celebration on 30 June 2010 marks the official start of the construction of the three 5.3-metre tunnels for the X-ray laser facility European XFEL. According to the mining tradition, the tunnel and tunnel boring machine will be christened in a festive ceremony before construction begins.
Tunnel construction also follows this decades-old tradition, which still plays a central role for the tunnel builders. Accordingly, the christening will take place during an oecumenical service in which a wooden statue of Saint Barbara will be blessed before being fastened to the tunnel wall. Saint Barbara is the patron saint of the miners and tunnel builders and is said to protect the workers from the dangers connected with their labour (see below).
The godparenthood for the three 5.3-metre tunnels will be assumed by Dr. Herlind Gundelach, State Minister for Science and Research of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. As tunnel godmother, she is regarded as the earthly representative of Saint Barbara for the duration of the tunnel construction.
The ceremony will be accompanied by a miners’ choir.
The tunnels of the European X-ray laser have different diameters. They will therefore be constructed by two tunnel boring machines of different size. The first tunnel ceremony on 30 June celebrates the start of the larger of these two machines. The second tunnel and tunnel boring machine christening will take place in autumn.
Saint Barbara
Since mediaeval times, Saint Barbara has been considered as the patron saint of mining, later also of tunnel building. According to legend, she was a young woman who lived in Asia Minor at the end of the third century. Because she was not only beautiful but also taken with Christianity, her father built a high tower to lock her up.
When she had a third window put in it (and the adjoining bath-house, depending on the legend) as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, and converted to Christianity, her father decided to kill her. But Barbara was able to escape into a crevice that opened up before her. After her rescue, however, the Christian was betrayed and brought before the Roman prefect of the province, where she was beheaded by her father.
Her life and destiny made her the patron saint of the miners and tunnel builders. Saint Barbara is said to protect them from accidents and death at work.
Programme
10:30 – Admission
Admission construction site Schenefeld, 800-m-long way to the venue
11:00 – Opening and Greetings
- Miners' choir
- Video trailer
- Prof. Massimo Altarelli
Chairman of the Management Board of the European XFEL GmbH - Dr. Herlind Gundelach
State Minister for Science and Research of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg - Dr. Cordelia Andreßen
Secretary of State of Science, Economic Affairs and Transport of the State of Schleswig-Holstein - MinDirig Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher
Director-General for “Provision for the Future – Basic and Sustainability Research”, Federal Ministry of Education and Research - Miners' choir
- Prof. Robert Feidenhans’l
Chairman of the shareholders’ assembly of the European XFEL GmbH - Prof. Helmut Dosch
Chair of the Board of Directors of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY - Dipl.-Ing. Henner Mahlstedt
Chairman of the Executive Board of HOCHTIEF Construction AG
For the consortium of building contractors “ARGE Tunnel XFEL” - Miners' choir
11:45 – Devotions and blessing, christening ceremony
- Pastor Dr. Matthias Lobe
Lutheran protestant parish Bugenhagen, Hamburg - Pastor Martin Löwenstein SJ
Roman Catholic parish St. Ansgar, Hamburg
- Miners' choir
- Godmother for the tunnel Dr. Herlind Gundelach
State Minister for Science and Research of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg - Godmother for the tunnel boring machine Imke Gembalies
Staff member of the European XFEL GmbH - Miners' choir
Music Ruhrkohle-Chor (miners' choir) from Herne, conductor Harald Jüngst
12:30 – Refreshment and get-together
Organizational issues
Please note that the ceremony will be held in German. Hand-outs with the English translations of most of the texts will be provided for all non-German-speaking guests.
The ceremony will take place on the construction site Schenefeld. The venue can be reached in approx. 10 minutes on foot and is protected against rain. Civil construction will stop at that time in order for the 15-hectar site to accommodate the visitors. On your way to the launch shaft of the tunnel boring machine, you will learn interesting facts about the construction site. For security reasons please make sure to keep on the asphalt road.
- Please register until 15 June 2010, with the password given on your invitation.
- There will be a shuttle service between the DESY premises and the Schenefeld site for all guests.
Departure in front of the main auditorium: 10:00, 10:15 and 10:30
Return to DESY: as required, starting at 13:00.
In addition, one bus will start at 10:00 from Albert-Einstein-Ring / Bertrand-Russel-Strasse near Novotel and "AER19". - Only a limited number of parking spaces is available outside the construction site in Schenefeld. Therefore, please consider to use our shuttle service from the DESY premises.
- In Schenefeld, a transport can be organized in exceptional cases between the entrance of the construction site and the venue of the tunnelfest (see registration).
- Following the ceremony, there will be a get-together with refreshments next to the Infopoint FELIX at the entrance of the site.
Contact: tunnelfest@xfel.eu
Registration
The registration has been closed (deadline: 15 June 2010).
