Professor Karlheinz Brandenburg receives the Order of the Bavarian Constitution

On December 4, 2025, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. rer. nat. h.c. mult. Karlheinz Brandenburg was awarded the Order of the Bavarian Constitution. He was honored for his pioneering developments in the field of audio technology during a ceremony at the Bavarian State Parliament in Munich. As co-inventor of the MP3 process, he and his colleagues at the Fraunhofer Institute IIS in Erlangen revolutionized the way we listen to music. His research, which he later continued as Head of the Electronic Media Technology Group at the TU Ilmenau and as Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology in Ilmenau, has left its mark on generations.

The award honors his lifelong work and commitment, which is driven by tireless curiosity and the desire to rethink hearing and push the boundaries of technology. As the founder and managing director of Brandenburg Labs GmbH, Karlheinz Brandenburg and his team develop immersive audio products that make it possible to hear virtual sound sources as if they were physically present in the listener's environment. The products are intended to redefine human hearing.