Copenhagen—One of us

Everyone knows the problem: If you forget to plug in a new home or take a line, you will probably pay a high price later. Dieter Schmitt is on board so that this does not happen when the Copenhagen metro is expanded into the former Sydhavnen harbor district. The manager, born 1960, is not only responsible for the planning and execution of all electromechanical trades. It also acts as an interface between tunnel builders and all the other companies that have been working on the new 4.5-kilometer track since 2018: Track builders, train technicians, safety experts, power suppliers and many more.

This group also includes the five artists whose works make the stations special places. Schmitt: "We make sure, for example, that a 1.5-ton pendulum, which is supposed to hang from the ceiling in a station, gets the corresponding fixing points—and of course holds them." the same applies to many other components of the various works of art, such as clocks, which have to be supplied with power and receive control signals.

"All of this must be carefully observed both during the entire early planning phase and during the construction phase," emphasizes the electrical engineer, who had already sat behind old TVs in his family business in childhood and replaced tubes. Schmitt, who lives in Greece, can gain a lot from his current location – despite the different climatic conditions to his home country. "The city is very bike-friendly, so I'm traveling without a car, which is good for my health. And Copenhagen is not only beautiful, but also well organized."