Genzel was presented with the prize in the Munich State Chancellery by the Swedish Ambassador Per Thoeresson.

“It’s hard to believe,” said the 68-year-old scientist, who is credited with discovering a colossal black hole in the centre of the Milky Way together with the US researcher Andrea Ghez.

But despite winning the prize, Genzel is a long way off retiring.
“Especially in Europe with the European Southern Observatory, we have a lot planned,” he told German broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.

“The next large telescope should be ready in a few years. It will then have a diameter of 40 metres, and our institute, together with others, will build the first device for this giant telescope, which will then be the largest in the world,” Genzel said.

Scientists hope to use the new telescope to take a “journey through time,” to look back into the earliest times of the universe, he added.

Genzel and Ghez had worked independently and were together awarded half of this year’s Nobel Prize for physics. The second half was awarded to British scientist Roger Penrose, also for his findings on black holes.

The Nobel Prize was presented in Munich because Genzel works at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE). This year’s prizewinners share a total of 10 million Swedish kroner (around 1.18 million dollars), 1 million kroner more than last year.