Gustav Ludwig Hertz (; 22 July 1887 – 30 October 1975) was a German

experimental physicist Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments an ...

and Nobel Prize winner for his work on inelastic electron collisions in gases, and a nephew of

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( ; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. The unit ...

Biography

Hertz was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, the son of Auguste (née Arning) and a lawyer, Gustav Theodor Hertz (1858–1904),

' brother. He attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums before studying at the Georg-August University of Göttingen (1906–1907), the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

(1907–1908), and the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

(1908–1911). He received his doctorate in 1911 under Heinrich Leopold Rubens.Mehra and Rechenberg, 2001, 197. From 1911 to 1914, Hertz was an assistant to Rubens at the University of Berlin. It was during this time that Hertz and

James Franck James Franck (; 26 August 1882 – 21 May 1964) was a German physicist who won the 1925 Nobel Prize for Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom". He completed his doctorate i ...

performed experiments on inelastic electron collisions in gases, known as the

Franck–Hertz experiment The Franck–Hertz experiment was the first electrical measurement to clearly show the quantum nature of atoms, and thus "transformed our understanding of the world". It was presented on April 24, 1914, to the German Physical Society in a paper ...

s, and for which they received the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

in 1925.Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see entry for Hertz. During World War I, Hertz served in the military from 1914. In 1915 he joined

Fritz Haber Fritz Haber (; 9 December 186829 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydroge ...

's unit that would introduce poisonous chlorine gas as a weapon. He was seriously wounded in 1915. In 1917, he returned to the University of Berlin as a

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...

. In 1920, he took a job as a research physicist at the Philips Incandescent Lamp Factory in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Hertz
– Nobel Biography.

Career

In 1925, Hertz became ordinarius professor and director of the Physics Institute of the

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

. In 1928 he became ordinarius professor of experimental physics and director of the Physics Institute of the ''

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 (, ). ...

Berlin'' ("THB"), now

Technical University of Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...

. While there, he developed an isotope separation technique via gaseous diffusion. Since Hertz was an officer during World War I, he was temporarily protected from National Socialist policies and the

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Hitler Service (german: Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-es ...

, but eventually the policies and laws became more stringent, and at the end of 1934, he was forced to resign his position at THB, as he was classified as a "second degree part-Jew" (his paternal grandfather

Gustav Ferdinand Hertz Gustav Ferdinand Hertz (born August 2, 1827, as David Gustav Hertz in Hamburg, died September 8, 1914) was a German lawyer and senator of the Free Imperial City of Hamburg. He was the father of the pioneering physicist Heinrich Hertz Heinric ...

(originally named David Gustav Hertz) (1827–1914) had been Jewish as a child, before his whole family had converted to Lutheranism in 1834). He then took a position at

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

, as director of Research Laboratory II. While there, he continued his work on

atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

and

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies ...

, but he eventually discontinued his work on isotope separation. He held this position until he departed for the Soviet Union in 1945.

In the Soviet Union

"Pact to defect"

Hertz was concerned for his safety and, like his fellow Nobel laureate

, was looking to move to the USA or any other place outside Germany. So he made a pact with three colleagues:

Manfred von Ardenne Manfred von Ardenne (20 January 1907 – 26 May 1997) was a German researcher and applied physicist and inventor. He took out approximately 600 patents in fields including electron microscopy, medical technology, nuclear technology, plasma physics ...

, director of his private laboratory ''Forschungslaboratorium für Elektronenphysik'',

Peter Adolf Thiessen Peter Adolf Thiessen (6 April 1899 – 5 March 1990) was a German physical chemist. He voluntarily went to the Soviet Union at the close of World War II, and he received high Soviet decorations and the Stalin Prize for contributions to the ...

, ordinarius professor at the

and director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (KWIPC) in

Berlin-Dahlem Dahlem ( or ) is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. It is located between the mansion settlements of Grunewald and ...

, and

Max Volmer Max Volmer (; 3 May 1885 – 3 June 1965) was a German physical chemist, who made important contributions in electrochemistry, in particular on electrode kinetics. He co-developed the Butler–Volmer equation. Volmer held the chair and directo ...

, ordinarius professor and director of the Physical Chemistry Institute at the THB. The pact was a pledge that whoever first made contact with the Soviets would speak for the rest. The objectives of their pact were threefold: (1) Prevent plunder of their institutes, (2) Continue their work with minimal interruption, and (3) Protect themselves from prosecution for any political acts of the past. Before the end of World War II, Thiessen, a member of the

Nazi Party 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 t ...

, had Communist contacts.

Participation in Soviet Nuclear Project

On 27 April 1945, Thiessen arrived at von Ardenne's institute in an armored vehicle with a major of the Soviet Army, who was also a leading Soviet chemist.Oleynikov, 2000, pp 5, 10–13, 18, 21 All four of the pact members were taken to the Soviet Union. Hertz was made head of Institute G, in Agudseri (Agudzery), about 10 km southeast of

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

and a suburb of Gul'rips (Gulrip'shi).Naimark, 1995, 213. Topics assigned to Gustav Hertz's Institute G included: (1) Separation of isotopes by diffusion in a flow of inert gases, for which Gustav Hertz was the leader, (2) Development of a condensation pump, for which Justus Mühlenpfordt was the leader, (3) Design and build a mass spectrometer for determining the isotopic composition of uranium, for which Werner Schütze was the leader, (4) Development of frameless (ceramic) diffusion partitions for filters, for which Reinhold Reichmann was the leader, and (5) Development of a theory of stability and control of a diffusion cascade, for which Heinz Barwich was the leader; Barwich had been deputy to Hertz at Siemens. Other members of Institute G were

Werner Hartmann Werner Hartmann (11 December 1902 – 26 April 1963) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He was credited with sinking 26 ships, amounting to over sunk. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Na ...

and Karl-Franz Zühlke. Manfred von Ardenne was made head of Institute A. Goals of von Ardenne's Institute A included: (1) Electromagnetic separation of isotopes, for which von Ardenne was the leader, (2) Techniques for manufacturing porous barriers for isotope separation, for which Peter Adolf Thiessen was the leader, and (3) Molecular techniques for separation of uranium isotopes, for which

Max Steenbeck Max Christian Theodor Steenbeck (21 March 1904 – 15 December 1981) was a German physicist who worked at the '' Siemens-Schuckertwerke'' in his early career, during which time he invented the betatron in 1934. He was taken to the Soviet Un ...

was the leader. In his first meeting with Lavrentij Beria, von Ardenne was asked to participate in building the bomb, but von Ardenne quickly realized that participation would prohibit his repatriation to Germany, so he suggested isotope enrichment as an objective, which was agreed to.

Research at Sukhumi

By the end of the 1940s, nearly 300 Germans were working at the institute, and they were not the total work force. Institute A was used as the basis for the Sukhumi Physical-Technical Institute in Sinop, a suburb of

. Volmer went to the Scientific Research Institute No. 9 (NII-9). in Moscow; he was given a design bureau to work on the production of heavy water. In Institute A, Thiessen became leader for developing techniques for manufacturing porous barriers for isotope separation. In 1949, six German scientists, including Hertz, Thiessen, and Barwich were called in for consultation at Sverdlovsk-44, which was responsible for uranium enrichment. The plant, smaller than the American Oak Ridge gaseous diffusion plant, was getting only a little over half of the expected 90% or higher enrichment.Holloway, 1994, 191–192. After 1950, Hertz moved to Moscow. In 1951, Hertz was awarded a

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

, second class, with Barwich. In that year, James Franck and Hertz were jointly awarded the

Max Planck Medal The Max Planck medal is the highest award of the German Physical Society , the world's largest organization of physicists, for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. The prize has been awarded annually since 1929, with few exceptions, ...

by the

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...

. Hertz remained in the Soviet Union until 1955.

Return to the GDR

Upon return from the Soviet Union, Hertz became ordinarius professor at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

. From 1955 to 1967, he was also the chairman of the Physical Society of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (GDR); he was honorary chairman from 1967 to 1975.

Personal life

Gustav Hertz was a nephew of

and a cousin of Mathilde Carmen Hertz. In 1919, Hertz married Ellen née Dihlmann, who died in 1941. They had two sons,

Carl Helmut Hertz Carl Hellmuth Hertz (also written Carl Helmut Hertz, October 15, 1920 – April 29, 1990) was a German physicist known primarily for being involved in the development of inkjet technology and ultrasound technology. He was the son of Gustav Lu ...

and Johannes Heinrich Hertz; both became physicists. He died on 30 October 1975 in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

at the age 88.

Scientific memberships

Hertz was a Member of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin, Corresponding Member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, an Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a Member of the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences, and a Foreign Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Publications

* *Gustav Hertz ''Über das ultrarote Adsorptionsspektrum der Kohlensäure in seiner Abhängigkeit von Druck und Partialdruck. (Dissertation).'' (Vieweg Braunschweig, 1911) *Gustav Hertz (editor) ''Lehrbuch der Kernphysik I-III'' (Teubner, 1961–1966) *Gustav Hertz (editor) ''Grundlagen und Arbeitsmethoden der Kernphysik'' (Akademie Verlag, 1957) *Gustav Hertz ''Gustav Hertz in der Entwicklung der modernen Physik'' (Akademie Verlag, 1967)

References

External links

* *
SIPT
– Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology, on the website are published the photographs of the German nuclear physicists who had been working for the Soviet nuclear program {{DEFAULTSORT:Hertz, Gustav Ludwig 1887 births 1975 deaths Nobel laureates in Physics German Nobel laureates 20th-century German physicists Experimental physicists German people of Jewish descent Scientists from Berlin Scientists from Hamburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Quantum physicists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Leipzig University faculty Nuclear weapons program of the Soviet Union Technical University of Berlin faculty East German scientists German expatriates in the Soviet Union Foreign Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Winners of the Max Planck Medal People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery