150 years have passed since Russian chemist Dmitri I. Mendeleev first mentioned the periodic system in 1869. Since the discovery of the similarities and periodic elements by Dmitri Mendeleev and, at the same time, Julius Lothar von Meyer, the periodic table has become a foundation and icon of modern science. The PTE has celebrated spectacular success since its "birth", for example, by predicting the existence and properties of elements still missing at that time then later discovered and confirmed.

On November 11 and 14, the Department of Chemistry organized a two-part anniversary presentation to mark the event and held an experimental presentation - the later date especially for school students - during which the element classes were brought to life by means of information and experiments. The experiments showed just how important the elements are for life on this planet and how we encounter these elements every day. How exactly do you extract carbon from CO² (with burning magnesium), which elements give off colorful flames, and what types of metals serve as catalysts (especially expensive ones, such as platinum)? The program featured a colorful potpourri of interesting, surprising, and unusual facts and experiments as Professors Brüggemann (Institute of Polymer Chemistry) and Hapke (Institute of Catalysis) demonstrated how diverse the PTE is. Even in an age of YouTube & Co, students still consider teaching science based on real-life experiments to be "wicked cool"!