Wilhelm Klauditz

Wilhelm Klauditz (born February 24, 1903 in Vechelde near Braunschweig, † June 30, 1963 ) was a German wood researcher. He is regarded as an important pioneer of wood research in Germany after the Second World War and as a source of ideas for wood science, wood technology and forest science .

Professional background

Studies and career entry

Wilhelm Klauditz completed a chemistry degree at the Technical University of Braunschweig , where he learned from Gustav Gassner and Hermann Dießelhorst , among others . He received his doctorate in 1928 and initially worked for a year as a research assistant at the University of Halle on a grant from the Justus Liebig Foundation . In 1929 he moved to the central laboratory of Koholyt GmbH in Cologne. When it was later taken over by Feldmühle AG , Klauditz stayed with the company and became deputy head of the research department in Odermünde near Stettin . There he also increasingly dealt with questions of wood use. Already in the 30s, he wrote successful work for the production of rayon and viscose staple fiber based on beech wood. Even back then he was working intensively on the use of hardwood in the pulp and paper industry.

Reorganization of the Reich Institute for Wood Research

From 1939 he became a research assistant at the Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung in Eberswalde , which had been established as a larger research facility in 1930. The institute was subordinate to the Prussian Forest Administration, under the direction of CG Schwalbe, with the research tasks on technical wood utilization. When Schwalbe stepped down in 1934, the institute was divided into a chemical-technological and a mechanical-technological institute. The renowned wood researcher Franz Kollmann was the director of the mechanical-technological institute. Wilhelm Klauditz took over the management of the chemical-technological institute after the death of Professor G. A. Kienitz in 1944. The aim of the Reichsanstalt was to create comprehensive work “in the entire field of wood research, the development of wood-based materials and wood protection after felling”.

With the capitulation of the German Reich on May 8, 1945, the Reichsanstalt lost state support from the Reichsforstamt and Wilhelm Klauditz, together with Anton Dosoudil from the Mechanical-Technological Institute, tried to keep the Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung. The Reichsanstalt was first evacuated to Vils / Tyrol and later relocated to Hohenpeißenberg in Bavaria before it had to stop working in July 1945 due to lack of money. The organizational goal perspective was aimed at joining the institutes of the forestry department of the University of Munich . The negotiations failed, as they did later at the Hannoversch-Münden Forestry University , due to a lack of space and budget difficulties.

In November 1945, Klauditz contacted Gustav Gassner and, above all, Professor Hermann Winter of the Technical University in Braunschweig for the purpose of reorganization and returned there on March 23, 1946. He also received support from Oberlandesforstmeister Hausmann from the Hanover Forest Administration, who was very interested in the rapid continuation of wood research, and wrote a memorandum to the Brunswick State Ministry. In it, the possible affiliation to a forestry faculty or technical university was mentioned in the first place. In the foreground, however, should be the possibility of “bridging self-economic continuation of the work with state funding and with the support of industry and forestry”. The Association for Technical Wood Issues eV (iVTH) was founded in June 1946 to support the research facility .

Foundation of the Institute for Wood Research (WKI)

Klauditz founded the "Research and Advice Center for Technical Wood Use of the Association for Technical Wood Issues eV" in 1946 in a barrack on Steinriedendamm in Braunschweig. In 1949 he had achieved essential goals: The advice center could now call itself the “ Institute for Wood Research ”, the financial security was on a solid basis and the number of members of the association for technical wood issues increased steadily. The focus of the research shifted further to the development of manufacturing processes for artificial materials. In 1952 the institute was affiliated to the Technical University of Braunschweig due to special scientific achievements.

Wilhelm Klauditz died on June 30, 1963 in a tragic traffic accident at the age of 60. A suitable successor to head the institute could only be found five years after his death. The institute was incorporated into the Fraunhofer Society in 1970 and the Association for Technical Wood Issues became its sponsoring association.

Merits

Wood research owes Wilhelm Klauditz significant progress, especially in the field of chipboard research. He laid the foundation for the recognition of chipboard as the most important material for furniture through numerous research work in this area. Through regular lecture events, he created an independent platform for the forestry and timber industry and thus promoted the exchange of ideas among specialist colleagues.

Some characteristic works from this period:

• Work on the improved utilization of raw wood for the production of wood fiber, chipboard, cellulose and paper
• Development of new wood-based materials, in particular wood-chip materials and molded parts with special properties
• Investigation of chemical and mechanical-technological properties and possible uses of fast-growing tree species

Honors

• 1953 Federal Cross of Merit (Steckkreuz) for his special merits in wood research
• 1964 Renaming of the Institute for Wood Research to "Wilhelm Klauditz Institute for Wood Research at the Technical University of Braunschweig"

literature

• 50 years association for technical wood issues. Wilhelm Klauditz Institute; Festschrift, publisher: Association for Technical Wood Issues, Jhg. 1995/96.
• Günther Stegmann: Obituary for Wilhelm Klauditz. In: wood research. Volume 17, No. 4, Technischer Verlag Herbert Cram, Berlin 1963, pp. I – IV.
• Weekly paper for paper production. Volume 93, No. 16, 1965, pp. 721-722.

Web links

• Publications by Wilhelm Klauditz in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Klauditz and the establishment of the »Institute for Wood Research«. Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
2. ↑ The IVth site of the Association for Technical Issues related to Wood. Retrieved September 13, 2018.