Fritz Haber(1868-1934)
Haber came from a Jewish family. His father ran a trading business for fabrics, paints, varnishes and drugs. Severe complications occurred during his birth; the mother died three weeks later. After completing a commercial apprenticeship, he studied chemistry in Berlin and Heidelberg from 1886. In Berlin he received his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1891 with a thesis on some derivatives of piperonal. Meanwhile, Haber converted to the Protestant Christian faith in 1893. In 1894, Haber received an assistant position in physical chemistry at the Karlsruhe University of Technology and completed his habilitation there in 1896.
In 1898, Haber received an appointment as a professor at the University of Karlsruhe. From 1904 he worked on the catalytic formation of ammonia. In 1908, the chemist found a method to obtain ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen under high temperature and pressure. On October 12, 1908, his research was patented. He was a professor at the University of Berlin from 1906 and an honorary professor of physical chemistry from 1912. In 1911 he was appointed head of the Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, the predecessor of today's Max Planck Society. He released his "process for the synthetic production of ammonia from the elements" to BASF for commercial use.
At the same time he worked here as a scientist. Haber worked primarily in the fields of electrochemistry and investigated the thermodynamics of gas reactions. He also made a contribution to organic chemistry through work on nitro compounds. In addition to studies of physical chemistry, nitrogen reactions became his preferred area of research. He tried to synthesize ammonia, which is an indispensable basis for the production of explosives and fertilizer. This enabled Carl Bosch to develop the so-called Haber-Bosch process in industrial production in 1913.
After the outbreak of the First World War, Haber offered the institute's services to the Prussian army administration in 1914. The institute was subsequently involved in the development of gas weapons, which were used on a mass scale for the first time during this war, for example in the chlorine gas attack near Ypres on April 22, 1915. The chemist received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for the synthesis of ammonia. In March 1919, the German Society for Pest Control (Degesch) was founded, initially headed by him and, from 1920, Walter Heerdt. Since the founding of I.G. Farben joined their supervisory board in 1925. Haber was able to maintain his leadership position through the institute even after the end of the war in the Weimar Republic.
It was only after Adolf Hitler came to power in January 1933 that the chemist of Jewish descent was forced out of his position and scientific work in Germany. He emigrated in 1933, first to Great Britain and then to Switzerland.
Fritz Haber died on January 29, 1934 in Basel.
In 1898, Haber received an appointment as a professor at the University of Karlsruhe. From 1904 he worked on the catalytic formation of ammonia. In 1908, the chemist found a method to obtain ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen under high temperature and pressure. On October 12, 1908, his research was patented. He was a professor at the University of Berlin from 1906 and an honorary professor of physical chemistry from 1912. In 1911 he was appointed head of the Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, the predecessor of today's Max Planck Society. He released his "process for the synthetic production of ammonia from the elements" to BASF for commercial use.
At the same time he worked here as a scientist. Haber worked primarily in the fields of electrochemistry and investigated the thermodynamics of gas reactions. He also made a contribution to organic chemistry through work on nitro compounds. In addition to studies of physical chemistry, nitrogen reactions became his preferred area of research. He tried to synthesize ammonia, which is an indispensable basis for the production of explosives and fertilizer. This enabled Carl Bosch to develop the so-called Haber-Bosch process in industrial production in 1913.
After the outbreak of the First World War, Haber offered the institute's services to the Prussian army administration in 1914. The institute was subsequently involved in the development of gas weapons, which were used on a mass scale for the first time during this war, for example in the chlorine gas attack near Ypres on April 22, 1915. The chemist received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for the synthesis of ammonia. In March 1919, the German Society for Pest Control (Degesch) was founded, initially headed by him and, from 1920, Walter Heerdt. Since the founding of I.G. Farben joined their supervisory board in 1925. Haber was able to maintain his leadership position through the institute even after the end of the war in the Weimar Republic.
It was only after Adolf Hitler came to power in January 1933 that the chemist of Jewish descent was forced out of his position and scientific work in Germany. He emigrated in 1933, first to Great Britain and then to Switzerland.
Fritz Haber died on January 29, 1934 in Basel.