Wolfgang Gaede

Wolfgang Max Paul Gaede (born May 25, 1878 in Lehe ; † June 24, 1945 in Munich ) was a physicist and pioneer of vacuum technology .

biography

Sketch of a gas pump .

Gaede was the son of the Prussian Colonel Karl Gaede and Amalia geb. Renf, his younger brother Kurt Gaede (1886–1975) became a professor of architecture. In 1897 he started at the University of Freiburg to study medicine, but soon moved to the Department of Physics, where he in 1901 on the subject over the change of the specific heat of metals with temperature doctorate was. Subsequent research on the voltaic effect in a vacuum was unsuccessful, however, as the vacuum that could be achieved with the pump technology of the time was not sufficient for the investigations. This was the reason for Gaede to take a closer look at vacuum technology. He invented the rotating mercury pump for high vacuum, which he presented to his scientific colleagues at a congress in Merano in 1905 . Also in Freiburg in 1909, Gaede wrote his habilitation thesis on the external friction of gases .

In 1913 he received a professorship at the University of Freiburg . In the following six years he invented the molecular pump and a mercury diffusion pump there . In 1919 Gaede moved to the Technical University of Karlsruhe as Professor of Experimental Physics , where he worked in the following research areas:

• Vacuum technology
• Radio and communications technology
• Process for the production of pure hydrogen and mercury
• Research into lightning protection devices
• Movement of liquids in a rotating hollow ring

In 1930 Gaede was elected a member of the Leopoldina . In 1933/34, Gaede was denounced by two Gestapo employees of having called the National Socialists “kids' heads”. He then had to retire, although all allegations were void. Despite this incident, he was awarded the Werner-von-Siemens-Ring from 1933 in 1934 . In the following years he also received various awards at international level.

A consulting contract with E. Leybold's successor in Cologne from 1906 until his death enabled him to continue researching in his private laboratory, initially in Karlsruhe and later in Munich. Among other things, he invented the gas ballast principle. Gaede was the owner of almost 40 patents in Germany, as well as numerous abroad. The call to return to the University of Karlsruhe after the end of the war did not reach Gaede.

The GAEDE Foundation annually awards young scientists the endowed Gaede Prize for work in the field of vacuum-assisted science. The Gaede Archive, which is part of the foundation, manages his estate. It is located at the headquarters of Leybold GmbH, which emerged from E. Leybold's successor , in Cologne and is accessible to everyone after registration.

Honors

• The Golden Elliot-Cresson Medal from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia
• The Duddel Medal of the Physical Society of London .
• In 1969, in memory of Wolfgang Gaede, a lecture hall at Karlsruhe University was named after him.
• The Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße on the university campus in Karlsruhe in 1993 was named after him, as is the Gaede-lecture hall.
• The Gaedestraße in Cologne, directly next to the premises of Leybold Vacuum GmbH, was named after him.
• The GAEDE Foundation bears his name.

literature

• Harriet Unzeit: Between science and technology - on the pump inventions by Wolfgang Gaede from 1900-1914 . Dissertation, LMU Munich, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-00-007727-8 .
• Franz Wolf:  Gaede, Wolfgang. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 15 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Wolfgang Gaede . In: Karin Orth: Expulsion from the science system. Memorial book for the committee members of the DFG expelled under National Socialism, Stuttgart: Steiner 2018 (Contributions to the History of the German Research Foundation; 7), pp. 337–346. ISBN 978-3-515-11953-5

Web links

• Literature by and about Wolfgang Gaede in the catalog of the German National Library
• Bearer of the Werner von Siemens Ring
• German Vacuum Society (DVG)
• Gaede Foundation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Room: 30.22 Gaede lecture hall. Retrieved October 4, 2017 .