Max Robitzsch

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Max Robitzsch (born February 2, 1887 in Höxter , † June 10, 1952 in Brotterode ) was a German meteorologist and polar researcher .

Life

Max Robitzsch grave in the south cemetery in Leipzig

After attending high school in his hometown of Höxter in Westphalia , Robitzsch studied mathematics and natural sciences in Jena , Berlin , Marburg and Bonn from 1906 . In 1909 he did his doctorate with Franz Richarz (1860–1920) at the Philipps University of Marburg with the thesis Experimental determination of the ratio c p : c V of the specific heats in potassium and sodium vapors and the resulting conclusions for Dr. phil.He then stayed until 1914 as an assistant at the Physics Institute at the University of Marburg, where he was in close contact with Alfred Wegener , who had just returned from two Greenland expeditions. In 1910 Robitzsch passed the state examination for higher teaching qualifications. With Kurt Wegener he built in 1912 on the initiative of Hugo Hergesells the Geophysical Observatory Ebeltofthafen on Spitsbergen and wintered there in 1912/13. In 1914 he was appointed head of the observatory, but could not take up his work due to the outbreak of the First World War , during which the station was destroyed in 1915 by an English naval unit.

Robitzsch then became a scientific assistant at the Meteorological Observatory Lindenberg near Beeskow , where he stayed until 1935. His activity in Lindenberg was only interrupted by his war deployment from 1917-18 when he was doing duty in a field weather station. In 1921 he became an observer and in 1927 a professor. In 1928 he completed his habilitation at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin with the thesis Utilization of the moisture data obtained through aerological experiments to diagnose the respective atmospheric conditions . He held lectures in meteorology initially as a private lecturer and later as an associate professor. In 1935 he was appointed to the Reich Office for Weather Service , where he successively headed various departments, including the aerology department , the instrument department and the synoptic department . In November 1935 he became a senior councilor and in June 1942 director of the Reich Weather Service. The International Aerological Commission elected him to its member in 1935. In 1939 he was chairman of several of their sub-commissions. From 1937 to 1945 Robitzsch was a member of the NSDAP . After American and Soviet captivity, Robitzsch returned to the Lindenberg Observatory in 1948, where he was head of department and then director. In 1950 the University of Leipzig appointed him to the chair of meteorology. He was also the director of the Geophysical Institute and the associated Collm observatory . Robitzsch died in 1952 a few months after turning 65.

Max Robitzsch was married to Marie Robitzsch, née Stracke. They had two children.

power

Robitzsch was mainly active in the field of aerology and physics of the upper atmosphere. He was one of the first to recognize the importance of aerological observations in the Arctic for all of meteorology. He designed innovative meteorological instruments with great success. Even before the First World War, he was researching the development of the radiosonde . During his stay on Svalbard he constructed a sun recorder for polar stations. In 1916 he developed the bimetal actinograph (Robitzsch actinograph), in 1928 the equivalent thermometer and the skin hygrometer and in 1940 the air pressure variograph .

Robitzsch joined the "International Study Society for Exploring the Arctic by Airship" ( Aeroarctic ) in 1924 . He was co-founder in 1926 of the archive for Polar Research in Kiel . In 1927 he founded the archive's friends' association and remained chairman until 1951. In 1959 the association was renamed the German Society for Polar Research .

Honor

The 634 m high mountain Robitzschfjellet south of Hornsund on the island of Spitsbergen is named after Max Robitzsch.

Fonts (selection)

  • Sunshine registration on Svalbard . In: Meteorological Journal . Volume 12, 1913, pp. 594-599
  • The observation methods of the modern meteorologist . Gebr. Borntraeger, Berlin 1925
  • Equivalent thermometer and equivalent temperature . In: Meteorological Journal . Volume 45, 1928, pp. 313-315
  • Climate and organism . J. Springer, Berlin 1935
  • The exploration of the atmosphere, its methodology and its problems . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1953

literature

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Robitzsch, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German meteorologist and polar researcher
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Höxter
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1952
Place of death Brotterode