My first recollection of Karl Syassen was in 1970 when I was a postdoc in Edgar Lüscher's group at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). After the visiting professor Bill Daniels piqued my interest in high-pressure physics, a member of Prof. Mößbauer´s group at the TUM in Garching, Wilfried Holzapfel, was kind enough to introduce me to high-pressure technology and let me carry out experiments in his laboratory. This is when I first met Karl. I don´t have many memories from that time, but one did stick in my mind: in Garching we would often go for lunch at the excellent Plasma Physics cafeteria. I recall that at an after-lunch coffee break outside the cafeteria some of the Mößbauer group members, including I believe Gerhard Wortmann, were kidding Karl about a careless experimentation error: it seems Karl had pumped out a sample tube without first removing the air from the cryostat body, so the sample tube collapsed. Karl took the kidding with exceptional grace, laughing along with the others. I doubt if Karl made that mistake again. In fact, he developed into an scientist with really exceptional experimentation talents. Dr. Holzapfel noticed this and invited Karl to move with him to the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart in 1972 where Karl played an important role in building up the new high-pressure lab where he carried out cutting-edge experiments.

After that I met Karl at many AIRAPT and Gordon Conferences on high-pressure science and at meetings of the AIRAPT Executive Committee where we were both members. At the time my group studied Li´s superconductivity under pressure, I was very impressed with Karl´s experiments with Michael Hanfland at the synchrotron light source in Grenoble that yielded landmark structural studies under extreme pressure for most alkali metals. Karl´s comprehensive article "Ruby under Pressure" in the journal High Pressure Research has become a classic in the field. But there is no better indicator of Karl´s lasting impact on the field than being awarded in 2013 the most prestigious honor the high-pressure community has to offer, the Bridgman Award from AIRAPT. Beyond that, the friendly, thoughtful and highly communicative manner with which Karl conducted himself throughout his scientific career will serve as a model for upcoming scientists in any field of research.

On Sunday, October 1, 2023 I traveled to Stuttgart to meet a former colleague. That evening I shared a delicious dinner with Karl at his favorite Italian restaurant. Ignoring my protests, Karl paid for both of us. I insisted that I would do the same for him the next time he visited Munich. Unfortunately, this was not possible. Less than three months later he unexpectedly passed away. With Karl´s untimely death we have lost one of our very best!