Life
Gliese was born in Goldberg, now in Polish Silesia, the son of judge Wilhelm Gliese. He worked at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, first in Berlin and then in Heidelberg. While a student he was encouraged by the Dutch astronomer Peter van de Kamp to study nearby stars, which he did for the rest of his life.
His astronomical research was interrupted during World War II when he was conscripted into the German Wehrmacht in 1942 and sent to the Eastern Front. In 1945, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets and was not released until 1949. He finally resumed his research at the Institute, which had been moved by the U.S. Army to Heidelberg after the war. Although he nominally retired in 1980, he continued his research at the Institute until his death in 1993.
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