The ''Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft'' (Emergency Association of German Science) or NG was founded on 30 October 1920 on the initiative of leading members of the '' Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften'' (Prussian Academy of Sciences, PAW) –

Fritz Haber Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...

Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quantum, quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial con ...

, and Ernst von Harnack – and former Prussian Minister of Culture Friedrich Schmidt-Ott. Physicist Heinrich Konen, involved in founding and building the organization due to his relationship with Schmidt-Ott, became a long-standing member of its executive committee. Member institutions of the NG included all German universities, all polytechnics (''

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...

n''), the five German Academies of Science, and the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft. In 1929, the NG was renamed the ''Deutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderung der Forschung'' (German Association for the Support and Advancement of Scientific Research); also known in short as the ''Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft'' (DFG). Until 1934, the NG acted under supervision of the ''Reichsinnenministerium'' (Reich Interior Ministry), and after that under the '' Reichserziehungsministerium'' (Reich Education Ministry). In 1945, by the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Germany, the NG was no longer active. In 1949, it was re-established in the newly founded Federal Republic of Germany as the NG and from 1951 as the DFG.Heilbron, 2000, pp. 90-92. The objective of the NG was to provide the regional, disciplinary, and political factions of the academic community with a central institution to facilitate raising and distributing funds for the totality of German sciences and humanities. Originally, it was to alleviate especially the increased financial needs after World War I due to monetary inflation and generally higher costs in research. As presiding secretary of the PAW, Planck briefly headed the NG until Schmidt-Ott was installed as president. The NG was successful in raising funds and support from the central German government as well as financial contributions from corporate sources in Germany and abroad.

Presidents of the NG/DFG

From 1949 to 1951, Walter Gerlach was a vice-president of the NG.Flachowsky, 2008, Appendix I; see the entry for Gerlach, p. 8.

Bibliography

*Flachowsky, Sören ''Von der Notgemeinschaft zum Reichsforschungsrat. Wissenschaftspolitik im Kontext von Autarkie, Aufrüstung und Krieg'' (Steiner, 2008) *Heilbron, J. L. ''The Dilemmas of an Upright Man: Max Planck and the Fortunes of German Science'' (Harvard, 2000) *Hentschel, Klaus, editor and Ann M. Hentschel, editorial assistant and Translator ''Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources'' (Birkhäuser, 1996) *Zierold, Kurt ''Forschungsförderung in drei Epochen. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: Geschichte, Arbeitsweise, Kommentar'' (Steiner, 1968)

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External links

* {{Italic title Scientific organizations established in 1920 Scientific organisations based in Germany