Wilhelm Groth

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wilhelm Groth (born January 9, 1904 in Hamburg , † February 20, 1977 in Bonn ) was a German physical chemist and involved in the uranium project during World War II , which was also known as the Uranverein. After the war he worked as a professor at the University of Hamburg . From 1965 to 1966 he was rector of the University of Bonn .

Life

Wilhelm Groth was born on January 9, 1904, the son of a businessman. After completing his Abitur at the Oberrealschule zu St. Georg , Hamburg, he first studied architecture and construction in Munich. A little later, however, he began studying physics and chemistry at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and later at the University of Tübingen , where he received his doctorate in 1927 under Walther Gerlach . From then on he worked as a research assistant at the Technical University of Hanover and then at the University of Hamburg, where he completed his habilitation in 1938. In April 1939 he and Paul Harteck wrote a letter to the Reich Ministry of War and made it aware of the military possibilities of the recently discovered nuclear fission. In September 1939, the so-called Uranium Association was founded , in which Groth dealt among other things with enriching uranium with the help of an ultracentrifuge. This work took place in Hamburg, later in Freiburg and towards the end of the war finally in Celle. Until 1945 he worked as a private lecturer in Hamburg. From then until 1950 he worked as a professor at the University of Hamburg, first as an adjunct professor and then as an associate professor . Professor . From 1950 to 1972 he held the chair for physical chemistry at the University of Bonn. In 1956 he founded the scientific advisory board of the nuclear research center in Jülich . From 1965 to 1966 he was rector of the University of Bonn. In 1977 he died in Bonn at the age of 73.

Groth joined the NSDAP in 1937 .

Publications (selection)

  • A 3-stage multi-purpose thermal diffusion separating pipe cascade Bukow, nuclear research facility Jülich, Jülich 1968 (as Ms. dr.)
  • Chemical reactions in the atmosphere, Hanstein, Bonn 1966.
  • Prototype separation elements for a multi-purpose thermal diffusion isotope separation system for gases, Jülich nuclear research facility, Jülich 1963 (as Ms. dr.)
  • Photochemistry in the Schumann Ultraviolet, Leipzig (1939).
  • A special form of glow discharge in a transverse magnetic field, Kiel (1924).

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm Groth - Biography , on munzinger.de , accessed on July 10, 2014
  2. ↑ Bunsenmagazin ( Memento from July 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), on page 36 (pdf page 14) an article on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Wilhelm Groth
  3. ↑ A copy of the letter in: Michael Schaaf: Heisenberg, Hitler and the bomb. Conversations with contemporary witnesses. GNT Verlag, Diepholz, 2018, ISBN 978-3-86225-115-5 , p. 287
  4. ↑ A photo of the centrifuge laboratory building in Celle can be found in: Schaaf: Heisenberg, Hitler und die Bombe. P. 179
  5. ^ Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich: Who was what before and after 1945. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 205
  6. ^ Warneck and von Weyssenhoff, 2004, 37.
personal data
SURNAME Groth, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physical chemist
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1977
Place of death Bonn