Oral title: The detection of superhumps and eccentric disks  

Oral abstract: I will describe some details of the first observations of superhumps, which today are 
known to be one of the main characteristics of SU UMa-type dwarf novae and some other 
cataclysmic variables.  They were first detected during a superoutburst of the dwarf nova VW Hyi in 
December 1972 when I obtained photoelectric photometry at the La Silla 1-m-telescope. In addition, 
I will refer to time resolved image tube spectroscopy of the eclipsing dwarf nova Z Cha at the ESO 
3.6-m-Telescope, leading to the first evidence of the formation of an eccentric disk during 
superoutbursts of SU UMa stars.