Maximilian picking

Maximilian Clemens Pflücke (born May 26, 1889 in Potsdam , † November 19, 1965 in Potsdam ) was a German chemist and documentary . Between 1923 and 1945 and between 1946 and 1959 he was the chief editor or publisher of the Chemisches Zentralblatt .

Origin and education

Pfücke was the child of Protestant parents, Clemens and Susanne Pflücke. After high school he began in 1907 to study civil engineering and economics at the TH Berlin-Charlottenburg. In 1909 he moved to the University of Berlin to study natural sciences, especially chemistry, as well as physics, medicine and philosophy. In 1914 he received his doctorate with the dissertation synthesis of aromatic mercury dicarboxylic acids by reducing the oxymercuricarboxylic acid anhydrides and some double salts of the latter under Emil Fischer and Siegmund Gabriel at the 1st Chemical Institute of the University of Berlin .

Professional and personal career

From 1914 to 1933

At the beginning of 1914, Pflücke joined the editorial team of the Chemisches Zentralblatt . In the First World War, however, he was called up, initially to the Landsturm. As a military officer with the rank of officer, explosives chemist and works manager, Pflücke served between July 1916 and February 1919. From 1920 to 1923 he was the editor in charge of the magazine of the German oil and fat industry, organ of the specialist group of the oil and fat industry of the Reich Association of German Industry. In 1923, Pflücke became editor (with F. Goldschmidt) and advisor to the editorial team. At the same time he took over the editorial management of the Chemisches Zentralblatt (together with E. Behrle). In 1928 he became the editor and publisher of the Chemisches Zentralblatt. In 1929, when Picking gave the lecture on the centenary of the Chemisches Zentralblatt, he was awarded the Silver Hoffmann House Plaque by the German Chemical Society (DChG).

From 1933 to 1945

In May 1933, Pflücke applied for membership in the NSDAP , which, however , was not granted until 1936, but retrospectively, due to membership in the Freemason lodge "Teutonia zur Weisheit". In 1934, Pflücke became the "National Socialist shop steward" of the specialist group for oleochemicals of the Association of German Chemists (VDCh). In 1935, Pflücke took part in the »anniversary conference for the 40th anniversary of the International Institute for Documentation, International Institute for Documentation, International Institute for Documentation / 13. Conference of the International Institute for Documentation (IID) on the occasion of its 40th anniversary «in Copenhagen. In 1936 he played a key role in the history of chemistry department at the VDCh and, together with Erich Pietsch , set up the “Working Committee for Documenting Chemical History Documents”. In 1937 he was a member of the government delegation to the Paris "World Congress of Documentation". In 1938, Pflücke set up a documentation center for the Reichsstelle / Reichsamt für Wirtschaftsausbau at the Chemisches Zentralblatt, and in 1939 set up and edited the journal “Advances in Industrial Chemistry”. In November 1939 the "Chemisches Zentralblatt company" was declared a "military enterprise with support for the army". From 1940 onwards, Pflücke published the Periodica Chimica on behalf of the DChG . From 1941 onwards he took part in the meetings of the Reich Office for Economic Development on "Tar Utilization", "Cellulose", "Clay", "Fluor", "Pest Control" and (at least as a member) the "Leather" working group. In the same year he took over the editorial management (with W. Foerst) of the chemical reports of the Reichsamt für Wirtschaftsausbau and became co-founder and deputy chairman of the German Society for Documentation (DGD). From 1942 he headed the “Committee for Procurement of Scientific Literature Abroad” within the DGD; Since 1943 he has published the “Central Record for Foreign Literature” in cooperation with the DGD, the Reich Research Council (RFR) and the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). In 1943, Pflücke was appointed "the representative for the organization of scientific reporting in the Reich Research Council". In 1944 he was appointed general secretary and manager of the DChG. From around February / March he was the representative of the "Chemical Research and Development Task Force for Chemical Reporting" and editor-in-chief of the secret Reich Reports for Chemistry. In addition, Pietsch was employed in a "party official position" as "Deputy Gaufachwalter Chemie of the National Socialist Association of German Technology ". In October 1944 he was called up for the "Volkssturm", but was postponed. In March 1945 he received the War Merit Cross, 1st Class.

From 1945 to 1959/65

After the end of the war, Picking lost his previous positions, but from May to December 1945 he was entrusted with clearing and security work by a Soviet special commission headed by A. Kargin. In June / July he set up the office of the DChG and the editorial office of the Chemisches Zentralblatt in the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in Berlin. Between October 1945 and June 1947, Picking was a clerk in the Technical Office of the Ministry of the Chemical Industry of the USSR. On January 1, 1946, the Ministry of the Chemical Industry of the USSR commissioned Picking with the re-publication of the Chemisches Zentralblatt, which was officially dissolved in November 1945. Its editorial team was reorganized in East Berlin. This initially led to the management of two central sheets for chemistry in East and West. The Ost-Zentralblatt was published from 1947 by the Akademie-Verlag of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin under the editorial management of Pflücke. In August 1947 he applied to join the SED , which was rejected. In July 1949, Pflücke was appointed to the Humboldt University as full professor for documentation of natural sciences and technology. In December, the reunification of the two chemical central papers succeeded with the significant contribution of Pflücke, who in 1950 was appointed publisher and editor-in-chief (together with E. Klever) of the combined chemical central paper. In 1951, Picking was awarded the National Prize III. Class of the GDR honored for the “publication of the Chemisches Zentralblatt” and the “strengthening of East-West relations”. In 1959, Picking retired and resigned from all offices. Receives the GDR Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. Pick died in 1965 at the age of 77.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 339
2. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 340
3. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 340
4. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 341
5. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 342
6. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 343
7. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 344
8. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 345
9. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 346
10. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 347
11. ↑ Malte Stöcken, Documentation of Chemistry in War and Peace. Maximilian Pflücke, Erich Pietsch and the German Chemical Society from the 1920s to the 1970s, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2016, p. 348