Rainer Karlsch (born 3 April 1957) is a German historian and author. Karlsch was born in

Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located ...

. He studied

economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and i ...

at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established ...

. He graduated in 1986 as a Doctor of Economics. From 1992-1994, assistant to the Historical commission on Berlin (Historischen Kommission zu Berlin). From 1995-1998, assistant to a key DFG program. Since 1999, assistant to Institute for economic policy and economic history of the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in poli ...

. Together with the TV journalist Heiko Petermann, he investigated intensively the four-year history of German atomic research. They were supported by international historians, physicists and radio chemists. In 2005, he published his controversial book ''

Hitlers Bombe ''Hitlers Bombe'' (''Hitler's Bomb'') is a nonfiction book by the German historian Rainer Karlsch published in March 2005, which claims to have evidence concerning the development and testing of a possible "nuclear weapon" by Nazi Germany in ...

'', in which he argued Nazi Germany may have secretly developed and tested a

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

. Other historians have disputed his claims. He is a winner of the Stinnes Award.

Bibliography

*Sowjetische Demontagen in Deutschland 1944-1949. Hintergründe, Ziele und Wirkungen. (Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungen; ZFF 17) - *Allein bezahlt? Die Reparationsleistungen der SBZ/ DDR 1945-53, Ch. Links Verlag 1993 - , reprint: Elbe-Dnepr Verlag 2004 *Faktor Öl: Die Mineralölwirtschaft in Deutschland 1859-1974 - *Urangeheimnisse (Uranium secrets) - *Hitlers Bombe ( Hitler's Bomb) - , released on March 14, 2005

References

External links

Personal website
1957 births Living people Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German historians 21st-century German historians {{germany-historian-stub