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Audience at Open Air Theatre (OAT)

Institute Events

A section of the audience at the Open Air Theatre. Dr. Luebke was born on 14th October 1894, in Enkhausen near Arnsberg, Westphalia. He served in World War I from 1st August 1914 until December, 1918. He won the Iron Cross (first and second class). By the end of the war, he had earned the rank of lieutenant. He later worked in the field of agriculture and politics. He was the Minister for Agriculture and Food in the Government of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was elected a member of the first Federal German Parliament on 14th August 1949. Later on, in the same year, Luebke became Chairman of the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Forests. In 1959, he was nominated and elected Federal President. In German, Luebke is originally spelt Lübke, with an umlaut. K. M. Kripanarayan writes in the 15th December 1962 edition of Campastimes, in his article titled ‘President Luebke Lays the Foundation Stone of I.I.T. Madras’, “The student gallery was packed to the full inspite of the Davis Cup Match”. Das Bundesarchiv from Germany has documented a video of the President’s visit to India. Titled Der Staatsbesuch in Indien, the technicolour video shows roughly two minutes’ footage of President Luebke in Chennai and IIT Madras. It can be seen from the video that the students all turned out in white for the occasion.

Collection:
Gourishankar Collection
Photograph ID:
001/0259/IMG_0342
Album ID:
Date:
1962-12-02, 1962-12-03
Place:
Open Air Theatre (OAT)
Photographer:
C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.
Event:
Visit of Dr. h. c. Heinrich Luebke, President of the Federal Republic of Germany

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