Installation of a signpost to the Karlsruhe Reactor Station, April 13, 1957, photographer unknown, 6.0 × 6.0 cm, black-and-white negative. KIT Archives 28028/11813.
The photograph depicting the installation of a signpost showing the way to the reactor station in Karlsruhe on April 13, 1957, is well-known to KIT North Campus employees. It has been frequently displayed as a symbol of the Nuclear Research Center’s beginnings. The image shows the installation of a signpost at the intersection of regional route no. 559 and the former federal route B 36, essentially out in the countryside. At that time, the small fishing village of Leopoldshafen was located one kilometer further west on the Rhine. Today, the intersection shown is quite centrally situated in the since-developed town of Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen and the B 36 was relocated significantly further east as a local bypass in 1979. The official inauguration took place on July 19, 1956. Franz Josef Strauß, the German Federal Minister of Nuclear Affairs at the time, signed the founding charter of the Kernreaktor Bau- und Betriebsgesellschaft mbH. This research institution, jointly supported by commercial enterprises, the German federal government, and the state of Baden-Württemberg, was tasked with “the acquisition, collection, and evaluation of scientific and technical knowledge and experience in the construction and operation of a reactor station for the development and peaceful utilization of nuclear energy in the public interest […], and the promotion of practical training for young scientists and technicians.” The Hardtwald forest in the Leopoldshafen district was chosen as the site for the reactor station. The initially planned site near Karlsruhe was close to the Rhine, which posed a too high risk of flooding. as