Max Ernst Peukert

Max Ernst Peukert (born January 12, 1905 in Kukan near Gablonz , Northern Bohemia ; † December 14, 1947 in Fischlham near Wels , Austria ) was an agricultural chemist , microbiologist , inventor and manager. His specialty was the cultivation and utilization of certain molds using the wastewater from the pulp industry and breweries.

From 1938 to 1945 he put his inventions for biosynthetic protein production in the service of the Nazi war economy. Both in his diploma thesis (1938) and in his doctoral thesis (1939) he offered the food and feed industry in the Third Reich solutions to close the "protein gap". The main locations of his work during the Second World War were the Agerzell pulp mill (since 1948 Lenzing) and the Biosyn company in Weimar . After the end of the war, Peukert tried a new start in Austria. He applied for Austrian citizenship and said goodbye to biosynthetic protein production as it was no longer relevant in peacetime. He also wanted to make a name for himself as an inventor in the food sector during the reconstruction in the Second Republic , this time in the field of increasing yields in vegetable growing. In 1946 the “First Dr. Peukert conveyor belt culture facility ”in Gunskirchen near Wels, Upper Austria.

Life

Max Ernst Peukert came from a Sudeten German Gürtler family in Kukan near Gablonz in northern Bohemia . He attended the agricultural secondary school in Laa an der Thaya , Austria, where he joined the “Agraria” fraternity . After military service in the Czechoslovak Army, he studied agriculture in Tetschen-Liebwerd and Prague and biochemistry in Kiel (Henneberg student).

In 1932 he broke off his university studies, married and began to work as a food chemist for the company "Roggkaffol AG" in Trautenau. Trautenau remained his place of residence from 1932 to 1942. At “Roggkaffol AG” he was able to achieve an increase in the balance sheet thanks to innovative processes with highly fermentative baking and textile malts.

At the end of the 1930s Peukert made the acquaintance of Prof. Dr. Hans Niklas from the Technical University of Munich. Niklas, also a fraternity member, became a friend and sponsor of Peukert as an "old man" . He motivated Peukert to complete his university studies at the Technical University of Munich. After completing their diploma thesis and dissertation on the subject of biosynthetic protein production, Niklas and Peukert, together with Dr. Toursel, also TU Munich, issued three patents for the use of mushroom mycelia as feed and food. Since the promotion of research and development of biotechnological substitutes had priority in the Third Reich and was financially supported accordingly, Niklas and Peukert hoped for generous budgets and a corresponding reputation for the implementation of their inventions.

In fact, Peukert appeared in 1941 as the hope of an innovation boost in the field of biosynthetic protein production in a Nazi parade company, in the Agerzell pulp mill (since 1948 Lenzing). His attempts to recycle the wastewater from the pulp mill as a nutrient solution for mold cultures promised double benefits: a) the rapid production of large amounts of protein and b) the protection of the rivers from industrial pollution.

The culture submerged in the dregs growing mycelia , their levy and drying proceeded promising. Thereupon the then general director of the pulp mill Lenzing, Walter Schieber , SS man and Nazi multifunctional in the chemical industry in the Third Reich, decided to set up the company "Biosyn GmbH" in Weimar with Peukert as technical director. The capital was provided by the Schwarza ad Saale pulp mill, which was also under the management of Schieber. The "Biosyn GmbH", chaired by Schieber and Peukert as their technical director, was supposed to offer the patents for synthetic protein production throughout the Third Reich in a coordinated form for exploitation.

The protein composition prepared by Peukert in Agerzell since she, seasoned by a master butcher and / or became famous / notorious geselcht BVW (Biovegitabilwurst) should be offered to consumers as well. The tasting of the protein mass in May 1942 by the Gauleiter Eigruber and Sauckel was a complete success and aroused high expectations. Heinrich Himmler found out about this new food and gave SS-Gruppenführer Pohl the order to immediately begin "feeding attempts" in all concentration camps . These nutritional experiments were carried out in the Mauthausen concentration camp from 1943 to 1944 . According to reports from the camp doctor there, Ernst Günther Schneck, the sausage was eaten “with enthusiasm” by the staff and inmates. According to a former prisoner, Ing. Ernst Martin, Innsbruck, the consumption of the Biosyn sausage led to inflammation in the intestines and death of the malnourished prisoners.

In September 1942 there was massive resistance against the BVW on the part of the meat industry and the veterinary sector. The term “Biosyn sausage” should be replaced by “Biosyn spread”. At the beginning of 1943 the State Research Institute for Food and Medicines in Vienna issued a damning verdict on the “Biosyn sausage”. The test animals, mice, died on the second day after being fed. It is not yet clear whether the implementation of Peukert's methods failed due to excessive time pressure, a lack of manpower and material due to the war, too long and improper storage of the VBW or due to problems inherent in the process. There were repeated breakdowns, so that the approval as food in the trade did not come about until the end of the war. The funds used were not matched by any income that covered the costs, so that the Biosyn company accumulated horrific sums of debts at both the Lenzing pulp mill and the Schwarza pulp mill in 1945.

In May 1945 Peukert was in Bad Ischl . He wrote offers to the military government in Salzburg, to the Chamber for Agriculture and Food in Salzburg and Switzerland, to produce animal feed rich in protein and fat on the raw material bases of wood and peat. He applied for Austrian citizenship for himself, his wife and daughter. As in the interests of the state, his request was approved by several official bodies.

In spring 1946 the “First Dr. Peukert conveyor belt culture facility ”in Gunskirchen near Wels, Upper Austria. In autumn 1945 Peukert decided to discontinue further work with “mushroom mycelia as a protein source” as it was no longer appropriate in times of peace. His inventive energies now focused on the introduction of hydroponics and the assembly line in agriculture. Since the loans from the state government were a long time coming, he began to implement his project with bank loans and private donors. The private donors should receive vegetable deliveries and a pro rata share of the profits for their deposits. With a staff of expelled ethnic Germans, ten academics, four workers and a cook who were willing to help provide food and lodging, Peukert began operations on a five-hectare field. As with protein production in wartime, Peukert's long-term interest was not in vegetable production, but in the development of a patentable process.

In February 1947, Peukert learned that he was suffering from cancer in an incurable stage. Peukert died on December 17, 1949 in Fischlham near Wels. His brother-in-law, Josef Lorenz, took over the management of the vegetable research facility and continued to run it until the legacy was ended.

Publications

• Mushroom mycelia as a source of protein , Technical University of Munich, Diss. Munich 1939
• Mushroom mycelia as protein feed , in: Reprint from "Tierernahrung" 12 (1940) 411-413, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Becker & Erler Kom.-Ges. Leipzig.
• The new biological protein synthesis , in: Special print of the distillery newspaper from February 11, 1943, in: "Rundschau Deutscher Technik", No. ½ of January 14, 1943.
• Biosynthesis in modern industry , special print from Supplement No. 45 to the journal of the Association of German Chemists, Verlag Chemie, Ges.mbH, Berlin W 35. o. J.
• The new biological protein synthesis with sulphite waste liquor as a nutrient solution. Reprint from the "Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation", 1943, No. 5, Güntter-Staib Verlag, Biberach an der Riss (Württemberg).
• Cellulose waste liquors or their mashing as raw material bases for the new biological protein synthesis. Reprint from the magazine “Cellulosechemie. Communications on the chemistry and physics of cellulose and its accompanying substances ”, XXI, 32 - 34 (Issue 2) June 1943, Otto Elsner Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin SW 68.

Patents

• RPA, Patent No. 695107A, Dr. Hans Niklas, Dr. Otto Toursel in Munich and Dr. Max Ernst Peukert in Trautenau: "Process for the production of animal feed from mold pycelia", patented on June 16, 1939, pentene distribution on July 18, 1940.
• RPA, Patent No. 705308A, Dr. Hans Niklas, Dr. Otto Toursel in Munich and Dr Max Ernst Peukert in Trautenau: “Process for the enrichment of protein in microorganisms”, patented June 16, 1939, published on March 20, 1941.
• RPA, Patent No. 744677A, Dr. Max Peukert in Trautenau “Process for the extraction of fungal mycelium substance from cellulose accompanying substances”. Patented December 6, 1940, published November 25, 1943.
• RPA, Patent No. 744272A, Dr. Max Peukert in Weimar "Process for the processing of mushroom mycelia for the production of food, luxury and animal feed", patented on September 2, 1942, published on November 18, 1943.

literature

• Uwe Fraunholz: Exploitation of the worthless. Biotechnological surrogates from unconventional protein sources during National Socialism. in: Dresden Contributions to the History of Technical Sciences No. 32 (2008). P. 109f.
• Birgit Pelzer-Reith, Reinhold Reith: The "protein gap" and biotechnological protein synthesis. Synthetic food in the National Socialist autarky policy. in: Technikgeschichte Vol. 79 (2012), Heft 4, S. 316 ff, S. 323, S. 326.
• Reinhold Reith: "Hurray, the butter is gone!" "Fat gap" and "Protein gap" in the Third Reich. in: Michael Pammer, Herta Neiß u. Michael John (ed.), Experiences of Modernity, Festschrift for Roman Sandgruber on his 60th birthday, Stuttgart 2007, p. 422 ff.
• Roman Sandgruber, Lenzing: Anatomy of an industrial foundation in the 3rd Reich in Upper Austria in the time of National Socialism. Linz 2010, p. 291 ff, p. 305 f. P. 311.
• WG Campbell, HJ Bunker: Report on Visit to the Munich Technical High School at Weihenstephan near Freising. Bavaria BIOS Final Report No. 6, London 1945, p. 4.