Paula Hahn-Weinheimer

Paula Hahn-Weinheimer (born March 8, 1917 in Nuremberg , † December 2, 2002 in Munich ) was a German geochemist .

Paula Hahn-Weinheimer studied chemical engineering in Nuremberg and then worked as a chemist in various companies. She completed her studies in 1943 at the Goethe University in Frankfurt with a doctorate in organic chemistry. She then worked at the Organic Chemistry Institute at the University of Giessen and at the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. From 1948 she worked as a scientific assistant at the mineralogical institute of the Goethe University Frankfurt and qualified as a professor in 1958 in the field of geochemistry.

In 1964 Paula Hahn-Weinheimer moved to the Technical University of Munich (then THM), where she headed the research center for geochemistry at the Institute for Mineralogy, initially as a scientific adviser and from 1970 as the first natural science extraordinary (C3) at the Technical University of Munich . The Faculty of Business Administration was Liesel Beckmann in 1946 was the first Extraordinaria the TU Munich.

Her research areas ranged from investigations on igneous and metamorphic rocks to clarify their genesis and age to determining the origin of graphite and petroleum . Teaching and research were very important to her and so she was able to establish a considerable element trace and isotope analysis for this by acquiring many third-party funds from the federal government and industry as well as through cooperation with the radiochemistry in Garching .

Paula Hahn-Weinheimer has written over 50 specialist publications. She has made lasting merits in the further development and geochemical application of X-ray fluorescence analysis . Due to her scientific expertise, she was invited to research stays abroad. a. at the universities of Oxford and Cape Town and at the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA . In addition to X-ray fluorescence analysis, the excellent equipment in your department enabled a multitude of other research methods to determine main, secondary and trace elements, etc. a. Atomic absorption , mass spectrometry , optical emission analysis , X-ray diffractometry , neutron activation analysis and isotope frequency determination. A number of doctoral students received their doctorates under her. One of her last students (at that time post-doctoral candidate) and her temporary successor at the Technical University of Munich was Alfred V. Hirner, who later initiated analytical chemistry at the University of Essen (1991).

She has been portrayed several times in studies and exhibitions on the history of women's studies and the role of women at technical universities and especially at the Technical University of Munich.

In 2017, the Paula-Hahn-Weinheimer-Weg in the north of Munich was named after her.

Web links

• Literature by and about Paula Hahn-Weinheimer in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Margot Fuchs: Like fathers, like daughters. Munich 1994; Renate Strohmeier: Lexicon of natural scientists and women of Europe. Frankfurt a. M. 1998.
2. ^ Hahn-Weinheimer. In: Who is who ?: the German who's who. Volume 42 August Ludwig Degener, Walter Habel, August Ludwig Degener, 2003.
3. ^ Paula Hahn-Weinheimer, Klaus Weber-Diefenbach, Alfred Hirner: X-ray fluorescence analytical methods, fundamentals and practical application in geology, materials and environmental sciences. Springer-Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-528-06579-6 .
4. ↑ Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Stepdaughters of the Alma mater? 90 years of women's studies in Bavaria - using the example of the University of Munich. Exhibition catalog. Antje Kunstmann Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-88897-082-2 .
5. ↑ Women at the Technical University of Munich. (PDF; 2.7 MB) with a picture of Hahn-Weinheimer's young age
6. ↑ State Capital Munich Editor: Street renaming: Paula-Hahn-Weinheimer-Weg. Retrieved April 23, 2019 .