This chemical attack, which amounted to the first use of a weapon of mass destruction, marks a turning point in world history. This book surveys the history of kaiser wilhelm institutes under hitler, illustrating definitively the cooperation, if not collaboration, between scientists and national socialists in order to further the goals of autarky, racial hygiene, war, and genocide. Crossing boundaries boston studies in the philosophy and history of science. The preparation as well as the execution of the gas attack was orchestrated by fritz haber, the director of the kaiser wilhelm institute for. As a close adviser to the kaiser, a member of the academy of sciences and director of the renowned royal library, harnack was one of the most innovative and influential science managers of his time. Boston studies in the philosophy and history of science. Wilhelm ii 18591941 was the last german kaiser emperor and king of prussia from 1888 to 1918, and one of the most recognizable public figures of world war i. Kaiser wilhelm ii is one of the key figures in the history of twentiethcentury europe. Initially this applied to the boundaries within the disciplinary canon of the human sciences. The most important scientific institution in germany was the kaiser wilhelm society, including institutes devoted to different fields of scientific research. The institute for chemistry with director ernst beckmann and the institute of physical. Cambridge core history of science and technology the kaiser wilhelm society under national. In 1909, berlin theology professor adolf harnack issued an appeal to kaiser wilhelm ii. These researchers were not burdened by teaching obligations.
Readers interested in the former may turn to my piece in an early issue of the american conservative. The kaiser wilhelm society under national socialism. In serving the reich, philip ball takes a fresh look at that controversial history, contrasting the career of peter debye, director of the kaiser wilhelm institute for physics in berlin, with those of two other leading physicists in germany during the third reich. Part of the archive material used in this book was screened by benoit massin during his activity for the research program. This book surveys the history of kaiser wilhelm institutes under hitler. This made young wilhelm heir to the german throne and grandson of the queen of england. The kaisers memoirs by german emperor william ii free ebook. Hanswalter schmuhl when the kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human heredity and eugenics opened its doors in 1927, it could rely on wide political approval, ranging from the social democrats over the catholic.
This book is a good book about the other side of the man who apparently is viewed to have started world war and ruined his entire country. Wilhelm was born in berlin, germany at the crown princes palace on january 27, 1859. Document number ciardp8200457r0034005400045 declassified and released through the cias crest database. The kaiser wilhelm society was an umbrella organisation for many institutes, testing stations, and research units created under its. Its functions were taken over by the max planck society. The rockefeller foundation partially funded the actual building of the institute and helped keep the institute afloat during the great depression. The innocence of kaiser wilhelm ii by christina croft. The kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human heredity and eugenics, 19271945. The kaiser wilhelm institute of anthropology, human heredity, and eugenics was founded in 1927 in berlin, germany. States june 28, 2001 compilation of articles, including several about the lives and work of nobel laureates, on the official website of the nobel prize. Crossing boundaries boston studies in the philosophy. The haberbosch process combined nitrogen and hydrogen to form ammonia in industrial quantities for production of fertilizer and munitions. The most important scientific institution in germany was the kaiser wilhelm society.
Provenance the collection was donated to the united states holocaust memorial museum by dr. History of the kaiser wilhelm society maxplanckgesellschaft. A year later fritz haber, discoverer of the process for synthesizing ammonia and director of the kaiser wilhelm institute now the max planck institute, invited mark to join the newly organized institute for fiber research, founded within the kaiser wilhelm institute for the study of the structure of fibers. Kaiser wilhelm institute for brain research project. His father was prince frederick william who would later become emperor frederick iii and his mother was princess victoria daughter of queen victoria of england. During the 1990s he lived in germany and wrote scientific histories of the european molecular biology organization, the european molecular biology laboratory, and the max planck institute for medical research. Kaiser wilhelm institutes department for human heredity. Kaiser wilhelm ii 18591941 is one of the most fascinating figures in european history, ruling imperial germany from his accession in 1888 to his enforced abdication in 1918 at the end of the first world war. In 1939, for example, heinrich himmler, the head of the gestapo, praised two leading researchers at the kaiser wilhelm institute kwi for anthropology in berlin for their work that has. Beneath the clinical glare of a dimlylit medical chamber, three spectral figures preside over an unseen operation. A large number of monuments were erected in germany in honour of emperor william i known in german as kaiserwilhelmdenkmal. Different outtake ive read one too many books containing information kaiser wilhelm ii and how much of an evil man he was. Science and modernization in imperial germany 9780807865491.
The kaiser wilhelm institute in berlin was disbanded after world war ii. How would world affairs play out differently if his 19 year old son, wilhelm iii, was crowned kaiser wilhelm iii. Fritz haber, born december 9, 1868, breslau, silesia, prussia now wroclaw, polanddied january 29, 1934, basel, switzerland, german physical chemist and winner of the 1918 nobel prize for chemistry for his successful work on nitrogen fixation. A vast, haunting tableau writ large with the shadows of history, untitled is among the largest and most visually complex works in adrian ghenies seminal series of studies for the kaiser wilhelm institute. Attention is turned to the haunting transformation of the research program, the institute s integration into the national and international science panorama, and its relationship to the ruling power. History of the kaiser wilhelm society kaiserwilhelmgesellschaft. Herman mark and the polymer research institute landmark. From its founding in 1927 until its dissolution in 1945, the kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human genetics, and eugenics kwia in berlindahlem transgressed many a boundary. During the first part of the twentieth century, german science led the world. A history of the kaiser wilhelm institute for medical research. The kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human heredity and eugenics, 1927. Kaiserwilhelm institute for anthropology collection. The kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human heredity, and eugenics, 19271945.
There is evidence that other afrogermans, born from unions between german men and african women in former german colonies in africa. Jeffrey allan johnson is associate professor of history at villanova university. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most definitive collection ever assembled. A history of the kaiser wilhelm institute for medical. We dont get your dislike of technology and we dont get the prussian monarchy stuff. King of prussia and german emperor from 1888 to the collapse of germany in 1918 and a crucial player in the events that led to the outbreak of world war i. German scientists will study brain samples of nazi victims. In 1952, the institute for human genetics at the university of muenster was founded and appointed dr.
This volume traces the history of the kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human heredity and eugenics between democracy and dictatorship. Susanne heim, institut fur zeitgeschichte munchen berlin, carola sachse, universitat wien, austria. Attention is turned to the haunting transformation of the research program, the institutes integration into the national and international science panorama, and its relationship to the ruling power. History of the kaiser wilhelm society kws 1 the founding of the kws it the kaiser wilhelm society was the predecessor of todays max planck society. The foundation of the kaiser wilhelm institute for medical research. As the head of the kaiser wilhelm institutes department for human heredity, verschuer, a physician and geneticist, examined hundreds of pairs of twins to study whether criminality, feeble. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Previously available only on four computers located outside of washington d. Nder curies direction the radium institute in paris became a world center for the study of radioactivity there were only a few others on the same levelthe cavendish laboratory in cambridge, england. As the institute notes on its website, this led to a historical commission, a public apology and publication of extensive research about the kaiser wilhelm institutes persecution of jews and. He was the sole recipient of the nobel prize in physiology or medicine.
William ii, german wilhelm ii, in full friedrich wilhelm viktor albert, born january 27, 1859, potsdam, near berlin germanydied june 4, 1941, doorn, netherlands, german emperor kaiser and king of prussia from 1888 to the end of world war i in 1918, known for his frequently militaristic manner as well as for his vacillating policies youth and early influences. In 1901 while visiting bremen, kaiser wilhelm ii was shot at by an anarchist. Rheinlandbastard was a derogatory term used in nazi germany to describe afrogermans, believed fathered by french army personnel of african descent who were stationed in the rhineland during its occupation by france after world war i. Another in the kaiser wilhelm institutes eugenic complex of institutions was the institute for brain research. Digg this a bright young man who served on a panel with me at an intelligence conference earlier this year said during a break, a lot of us read your on war columns, but there are two things we dont get. The kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human heredity and. As early as 1867 the berlin sculptor, friedrich drake, had created the first equestrian statue, that portrayed william i as the king of prussia. The kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human heredity, and eugenics, 19271945 by hanswalter schmuhl, nov 19, 2010, schmuhl hans walter, springer edition, paperback. A purely theoretical institute for the study of the nature of man. Kaiser wilhelm institute of anthropology, human heredity.
The kaiser wilhelm society for the advancement of science was a german scientific institution established in the german empire in 1911. Max planck, the elder statesman of physics after whom germanys premier. He served as an officer in the elite uhlan cavalry regiment during the first world war, and was awarded the iron cross 1st class for bravery. The kaiser wilhelm society under national socialism by susanne. The horrifying american roots of nazi eugenics history. The collection consists of books and lantern slides that were used for eugenic studies at the kaiserwilhelm institute for anthropology in berlin, germany. Courtesy of maxplanckinstitut fur medizinische forschung. Crossing boundaries 259 by hanswalter schmuhl 2008, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Founded in berlin in 1911, it was based on an entirely new concept which introduced an institution of a kind previously unknown in the established. Comparative international perspectives on the kaiser wilhelm institute, edited by carola sachse and mark walker is published by university of chicago press journals. The kaiser wilhelm society was the most important scientific institution in germany in the first half of the twentieth century. The kaiser wilhelm institute for anthropology, human.