Karl Eugen Julius Wirtz (24 April 1910 – 12 February 1994) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
nuclear physicist, born in
Cologne. He was arrested by the allied British and American Armed Forces and incarcerated at
Farm Hall for six months in 1945 under
Operation Epsilon
Operation Epsilon was the codename of a program in which Allied forces near the end of World War II detained ten German scientists who were thought to have worked on Nazi Germany's nuclear program. The scientists were captured between May 1 ...
.
Education
From 1929 to 1934, Wirtz studied
physics,
chemistry, and
mathematics at the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
, the
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...
, and the
University of Breslau
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
. He received his doctorate in 1934 under C. Schäfer. From 1935 to 1937, he was a teaching assistant to
Carl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer at the
University of Leipzig. During this period, he became a member of the
Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund (''NSLB'', ''National Socialist Teachers League''), but not the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported th ...
(''NSDAP, National Socialist German Workers Party'').
Some of the more established scientists, such as
Max von Laue, could demonstrate more autonomy than the younger and less established scientists. This was, in part, due to political organizations, such as the
Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Dozentenbund (''NSDDB, National Socialist German University Lecturers League''), whose district leaders had a decisive role in the acceptance of an
Habilitationsschrift, which was a prerequisite to attaining the rank of
Privatdozent necessary to becoming a university lecturer. Hence joining such organizations became a tactical career consideration. In 1938, he completed his
Habilitation at the
Humboldt University of Berlin with a Habilitationsshrift on the electrochemical foundations of electrolytic
heavy water production.
[Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see the entry for Karl Wirtz.]
Career
In 1937, Wirtz became a staff scientist at the
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
, an institute under the
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
) and located in
Dahlem-Berlin. In 1940, he worked on the horizontal layer reactor design with
Fritz Bopp
Friedrich Arnold "Fritz" Bopp (27 December 1909 – 14 November 1987) was a German theoretical physicist who contributed to nuclear physics and quantum field theory. He worked at the '' Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik'' and with the '' Ura ...
and
Erich Fischer. In 1941, he also became a
Privatdozent at the
Humboldt University of Berlin.
In 1944, Wirtz was appointed head of the experimental department at the KWIP, which had been moved to
Hechingen
Hechingen ( Swabian: ''Hächenga'') is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border.
Geography
The town lies at the foot of t ...
in 1943 to avoid bombing casualties to the personnel. In late spring 1945, Wirtz was arrested by the allied
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
American Armed Forces and incarcerated at
Farm Hall for six months under
Operation Epsilon
Operation Epsilon was the codename of a program in which Allied forces near the end of World War II detained ten German scientists who were thought to have worked on Nazi Germany's nuclear program. The scientists were captured between May 1 ...
.
From 1946, Wirtz worked at the
Max-Planck Institut für Physik, which was the renamed
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
and had been opened in the
British Occupation Zone
The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom along with her Commonwealth were one of the three major Allied po ...
in
Göttingen.
From 1948 to 1957, he was also an extraordinarius professor at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded i ...
. From 1950, he also became a scientific member of the
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...
.
From 1957 to 1979, Wirtz was an ordinarius professor of physical foundations of reactor technology at the
Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association.
KIT was created in 2009 ...
and director of the Institute of Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology at the Center for Nuclear Research, which was established in 1957 in Karlsruhe. From 1965 to 1967, he was chairman of the scientific council of the Karlsruhe Center for Nuclear Research. From 1974 to 1976, he was dean of the faculty of mechanical engineering at Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe.
Organizations
*1966 – 1968: Executive Vice President of the European Atomic Energy Society and consultant to the West German Government in affairs related to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
*1972 – 1977: Member of the presiding committee of the Deutsches Atomforum (Atomic Forum).
Internal Reports
The following reports were published in ''
Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte'' (''Research Reports in Nuclear Physics''), an internal publication of the German ''
Uranverein''. The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied
Operation Alsos
The Alsos Mission was an organized effort by a team of British and United States military, scientific, and intelligence personnel to discover enemy scientific developments during World War II. Its chief focus was on the German nuclear energy pr ...
and sent to the
United States Atomic Energy Commission for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the
Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...
.
[Walker, 1993, 268-274.]
*Erica Cremer and Karl Wirtz ''Untersuchungen des Schwerwassergehaltes einiger technischer Elektrolyseure in Deutschland'' G-21 (21 June 1940)
*Karl Wirtz ''Bericht II. Eine 10-stufige Elektrolyseuranlage zur Gewinnung von schwerem Wasser'' G-61 (19 January 1940)
*
Fritz Bopp
Friedrich Arnold "Fritz" Bopp (27 December 1909 – 14 November 1987) was a German theoretical physicist who contributed to nuclear physics and quantum field theory. He worked at the '' Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik'' and with the '' Ura ...
,
Erich Fischer,
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematis ...
,
Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker, and Karl Wirtz ''Untersuchungen mit neuen Schichtenanordnungen aus U-metall und Paraffin'' G-127 (March 1942)
*Werner Heisenberg, Fritz Bopp, Erich Fischer, Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker, and Karl Wirtz ''Messungen an Schichtenanordnungen aus 38-Metall und Paraffin'' G-162 (30 October 1942)
*Karl Wirtz ''Die elektrolytische Schwerwassergewinnung in Norwegen'' G-198 (26–28 February 1942)
*Karl Wirtz ''Einrichtung der Elektrolyse zur Aufbearbeitung von schwerem Wasser'' G-296 (8 August 1944)
*Fritz Bopp,
Walther Bothe, Erich Fischer, Erwin Fünfer, Werner Heisenberg,
O. Ritter, and Karl Wirtz ''Bericht über einen Versuch mit 1.5 to D
2O und U und 40 cm Kohlerückstreumantel (B7)'' G-300 (3 January 1945)
Selected Literature
*Horst Korsching and Karl Wirtz ''Trennung von Flüssigkeitsgemischen mittels kombinierter Thermodiffusion und Thermosiphonwirkung: Methode von
Clusius und Dickel'', ''Naturwissenschaften'' Volume 27, Number 7, Page 110 (February, 1939)
Books
*
Horst Korsching and Karl Wirtz ''Trennung der Zinkisotope durch Thermodiffusion in flussiger Phase'' (Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1939)
*
Karl Heinrich Beckurts and Karl Wirtz ''Neutron Physics'' (Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 1964)
*Karl Winnacker and Karl Wirtz ''Das unverstandene Wunder: Kernenergie in Deutschland'' (Econ, 1975)
*Karl Winnacker and Karl Wirtz ''Atome Illusion ou Miracle?'' (P.U.F., 1977)
*Karl Wirtz ''Lectures on Fast Reactors'' (Universität Karlsruhe, 1978, 1982)
*Karl Winnacker and Karl Wirtz ''Nuclear Energy in Germany'' (American Nuclear Society, 1993)
Bibliography
*Bernstein, Jeremy ''Hitler’s Uranium Club: The Secret Recording’s at Farm Hall'' (Copernicus, 2001)
*Hentschel, Klaus, editor and Ann M. Hentschel, editorial assistant and Translator ''Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources'' (Birkhäuser, 1996)
*Hoffmann, Dieter ''Between Autonomy and Accommodation: The German Physical Society during the Third Reich'', ''Physics in Perspective'' 7(3) 293-329 (2005)
*Mark Walker ''German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power 1939-1949'' (Cambridge, 1993)
References
Further reading
*
Powers, Thomas, "The Private Heisenberg and the Absent Bomb" (review of Werner and Elisabeth Heisenberg, ''My Dear Li: Correspondence, 1937–1946'', edited by Anna Maria Hirsch-Heisenberg and translated from the German by Irene Heisenberg, Yale University Press, 312 pp., $40.00), ''
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', vol. LXIII, no. 20 (22 December 2016, pp. 65–67. "
Heisenberg">ernerHeisenberg,
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 28 June 1912 – 28 April 2007) was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under W ...
, and... Karl Wirtz
uring World War II ledan effort
o preventa complete shutdown
f work toward a German atom bomb which would condemn young physicists to military service... or takeover by Nazi extremists who might think an atomic bomb could still give Hitler a complete victory." (p. 66.) Desiring on ethical grounds to prevent the introduction of nuclear weapons into the world, the key German nuclear physicists "'agreed... not to deny
he feasibility ofan atomic bomb, but... to
rguethat it could not be implemented within a realistic time frame...'" (p. 67.)
External links
Annotated Bibliography for Karl Wirtz from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wirtz, Karl
1910 births
1994 deaths
German nuclear physicists
University of Bonn alumni
Nuclear program of Nazi Germany
Operation Epsilon
20th-century German physicists
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Scientists from Cologne
Max Planck Society people