Not only do countless electrons start their journey through the European XFEL facility at the DESY site in Hamburg—the vision of an X-ray laser took off at DESY too. The initial plans for the European XFEL were developed here, and DESY also initiated the plan approval procedure for the large-scale project.
Together with international partners, DESY constructed the heart of the X-ray laser—the 1.7-kilometre-long superconducting accelerator including the electron source. DESY is operating the accelerator on behalf of the European XFEL GmbH.
As an international project, the European XFEL will be run by an independent research organization, the European XFEL GmbH. In this organization DESY is one shareholder among others with a share of more than 50 percent.