Clara Immerwahr (TV movie)

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Movie
Original title Clara Forever
Country of production Germany , Austria
original language German
Publishing year 2014
length 89 minutes
Rod
Director Harald Sicherheitsitz
script Susanne Freund ,
Burt Weinshanker
production Oliver Auspitz ,
Kurt J. Mrkwicka ,
Andreas Kamm
music Lothar Scherpe
camera Helmut Pirnat
cut Paul-Michael Sedlacek
occupation

The television film Clara Immerwahr from 2014 is a production by MR Film on behalf of SWR , ARD Degeto , ORF and MDR for Das Erste . The director of the film is Harald Sicherheitsitz . The film tells the life story of Clara Immerwahr (1870–1915), the first German chemist with a doctorate, and addresses the question of morality in science and the role of women as scientists at the beginning of the 20th century.

The first television broadcast took place on May 28, 2014 at the same time in the film Wednesday on Erste and on ORF 2 .

content

Encouraged by her father Philipp, Clara Immerwahr (played by Katharina Schüttler) shows great interest in chemical research. She wants to do the Abitur , which in the German Empire is only possible for girls in arduous detours. After graduating from high school, she succeeded in being accepted as a student of physical chemistry at the University of Breslau .

The focus of the film is the relationship between Clara and Fritz Haber . Shortly before starting her studies, she met Fritz. He is also an avid chemist and determined to pursue a career in university operations. A shared passion for research quickly turns into a romance. Fritz, who is in love, asks Clara to marry him. But the young woman cannot choose it. She does not want to give up her studies and therefore rejects the disappointed Fritz.

Ten years later Fritz Haber reappears in Clara's life. She has since made her PhD in chemistry and works as Professor Abegg's assistant. Fritz Haber wants to solve the nutrient problem in agriculture by synthesizing ammonia as the basis for artificial fertilizer. Clara Immerwahr is also enthusiastic about this research project. The two get married and move to Karlsruhe.

There Fritz Haber fulfills his wife's wish to include her in the work in the laboratory. This is more than unusual at this time, and Rector Engler, head of the institute, is correspondingly negative towards Clara. The time in the laboratory becomes the turning point of the film. Clara is increasingly suffering from the attacks. At the latest when she becomes pregnant and gives birth to her son Hermann after a difficult birth, Fritz's enthusiasm for involving his wife as a researcher also subsides. Now he wants Clara to attract less attention and not get in the way of his hard-won ascent. The situation comes to a head when the rector, while Fritz is away, even bans Clara from entering the institute. Because she protests loudly, she is temporarily admitted to a psychiatric ward. Fritz hopes the gap between him and his wife can be bridged when he finally hits the breakthrough. The synthesis of hydrogen and nitrogen into ammonia succeeds ( Haber-Bosch process ). The two often quarrel or avoid each other - also in Berlin, where Fritz is continuing his ascent.

While the signs point to war in Europe, the ideological differences between Clara and Fritz Haber are becoming more serious. Fritz works intensively with the military, which the pacifist Clara rejects. When she happens to find out that he is developing poison gas , she is horrified and tries to dissuade him by all means. It remains unsuccessful. Fritz enjoys the recognition of the officers and also believes that he is working for victory and thus for an early peace. He continues and is proud when the poison gas attack in the Battle of Ypres in April 1915 is successful. His wife demonstratively does not take part in the victory celebration organized by Fritz. The night after, Dr. Clara Haber takes her husband's service weapon and shoots herself.

background

The film deals with the special fate of the wife of a world-famous man who has remained relatively unknown to the present day. The film shows the discrimination against women in science at the time, as well as the pressure exerted by business and the military on science.

Web links

items

Individual evidence

  1. SWR Highlights 2014: Clara Immerwahr on swr.de, accessed on April 4, 2014
  2. ^ ORF 2, program May 28, 2014, primetime, accessed on May 29, 2014
  3. ^ Press kit "Focus on World War I: Clara Immerwahr" First German television