In recent years there has been important progress in Astro- and Particle Physics,which has led to a deeper understanding of the fundamental properties of matter and the nature of the universe. Much of the experimental progress was only possible due to technological developments in other areas, like optics, electronics and computer science. In the vein of these developments the new technology of cryogenic particle detectors are about to make important contributions to a wide range of astrophysics experiments. Examples are the search for dark matter, the observation of the cosmic microwave background and several projects in x-ray astronomy. But not only in astrophysics experiments such detectors have high potential, there are also attractive application possibilities in atomic and nuclear physics.
