Gerhart Jander (26 October 1892 – 8 December 1961) was a German inorganic chemist. His book, now normally only called "Jander-Blasius", on analytical chemistry is still used in German universities. His involvement in the

chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as ...

research and close relation to the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

have been uncovered by recent research.

Life and work

Jander was born in

Altdöbern Altdöbern (Lower Sorbian language, Lower Sorbian ''Stara Darbnja'') is a municipality in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Altdöbern lies in Lower Lusatia, but is not part of its Sorbs, sorbian in ...

Oberspreewald-Lausitz Oberspreewald-Lausitz (, ) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Spree-Neiße, the districts Bautzen and Meissen in Saxony, and the district ...

. Jander studied in

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

, and at

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

where he received his Ph.D for work with

Arthur Rosenheim Arthur Rosenheim (17 August 1865 – 21 March 1942) was a German chemist. His main work was on heteropolymetalate, colloids and complex ion chemistry. Rosenheim was born in New York to banker William and his wife Maria Hallgarten. He grew up in B ...

in 1917. He joined

Richard Zsigmondy Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (; 1 April 1865 – 23 September 1929) was an Austrian-born chemist. He was known for his research in colloids, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925, as well as for co-inventing the slit-ultramicr ...

at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. He became professor in 1925 and after a two-year period being a temporary director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Elektrochemistry from 1933 till 1935 he became professor for inorganic chemistry at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; ), formerly known as Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Founded in 1456, it is one of th ...

. In 1951 he changed to

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

. Jander died in Berlin in 1961.

Critical reviews

The involvement of Jander in the research on chemical warfare and his influence on the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Elektrochemistry after he followed

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 ...

as director, who was forced to resign due to the

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-establish the Civil Service, was enacted by the Nazi Party, Na ...

, have been a point of research of the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

(The Max Planck Society is the successor organisation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jander, Gerhart 1892 births 1961 deaths People from Altdöbern Scientists from the Province of Brandenburg 20th-century German chemists Inorganic chemists Technical University of Munich alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Academic staff of Technische Universität Berlin Max Planck Institute directors