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Political concerns
Staudinger also was concerned with moral and political issues outside the scope of academic chemistry. During World War I, he publicly criticized chemical warfare and opposed his old friend Fritz Haber, who had developed poison gas to support the German war effort. In 1917, Staudinger published a paper, based on a calculation of the industrial balance between the warring powers, in which he stated that the war was lost to Germany and should be stopped immediately, as any further bloodshed was senseless. His courageous statements were in direct opposition to the nationalist spirit of that period. Staudinger's quest for peace meant that his patriotism was called into question many times. In fact, in 1934, during the Nazi period, the dean of Freiburg University, the famous German philosopher Martin Heidegger, initiated dismissal procedures against Staudinger. Although Staudinger was interrogated by the Gestapo and had to resign, his removal was postponed, and finally withdrawn, when he agreed to stop questioning Nazi authority in public. Even so, all of his requests to travel abroad to attend conferences were rejected after 1937.
Hermann Staudinger: Father of macromolecular chemistry |
Staudinger's life and career |
Political concerns
Industrial significance of polymer science |
Macromolecules: A bridge between material sciences and life sciences
Hermann Staudinger's life and achievements |
Landmark designation
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