Abraham Esau
Encyclopedia
Robert Abraham Esau was a German physicist
.
After receipt of his doctorate from the University of Berlin, Esau worked at Telefunken
, where he pioneered very high frequency (VHF) waves used in radar, radio, and television, and he was president of the Deutscher Telefunken Verband. During World War I, he was a prisoner of war of the French; he was repatriated to Germany in 1918. In 1925, he was appointed professor at the University of Jena, where he also served as rector. From 1933, Esau was the State Councilor in Thuringia
.
From 1937, Esau was head of the physics section of the newly created Reich Research Council (RFR). From 1939, he was a professor at the University of Berlin and president of the Reich Physical and Technical Institute. From his position in the RFR, he initiated the first meeting of the Uranium Club in early 1939, the precursor to the Army Ordnance Office (HWA) German nuclear energy project, which began in September of that year. When the HWA gave control of the project to the RFR in 1942, Esau became the plenipotentiary of nuclear physics and was in control of the project. In 1944, Esau became the plenipotentiary of the high-frequency engineering and radar working group.
During World War II, Esau was one of the most powerful physicists in Germany. After World War II until 1948, Esau was a prisoner of war of the Dutch. From 1949, Esau was a visiting professor of short-wave technology at the RWTH Aachen
. From 1953, he was also head of the Institute of High-Frequency Engineering of the German Aeronautical Research Institute.
, West Prussia
. From 1902 to 1907, Esau studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (today, the Humboldt University of Berlin
) and the Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig (today, Gdańsk University of Technology
). From 1906 to 1909, he was a teaching assistant to Max Wien
at Danzig. He received his doctorate at the University of Berlin in 1908.
. From 1914, he was on active duty with the German military in Togo
; he became a prisoner of war of the French and did not return to Germany until 1918.
From 1912 to 1925, Esau served as laboratory chairman of the Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie (Wireless Telegraph Society) in Berlin. During this time, at Telefunken
, he pioneered very high frequency (VHF) waves used in radar, radio, and television. In 1921 and 1922, he had stays in Argentina
and Brazil
. From 1925, Esau was president of the Deutscher Telefunken Verband.
In 1925, Esau began his association with the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. From 1925 to 1927, he was an extraordinarius professor of technical physics, and from 1927 to 1939, he was an ordinarius professor of technical physics and director of the department of technical physics. He was rector there from 1932 to 1935 and in 1937. Dr. Esau was also the advicer of Dr. Lothar Rohde and Dr. Hermann Schwarz
, who later on founded the company Rohde & Schwarz
, in 1933 during their doctorate in Jena
.
In October 1933, Esau became a Staatsrat (State Councilor) in Thuringia
, a position he held until the end of World War II. This role gave him direct access to Adolf Hitler
.
On the initiative of Erich Schumann
, the Reichsforschungsrat
(RFR, Reich Research Council) was inaugurated on 16 March 1937 by Reich Minister Bernhard Rust
of the Reichserziehungsministerium
(REM, Reich Education Ministry). The RFR was set up to centralize planning for all basic and applied research in Germany, with the exception of aeronautical research, which was under the supervision of Reich Marshal Hermann Göring
. Support for research was decided by the heads of 13 special sections of the RFR (Fachspatenleiter). Esau was a member of the RFR from its inception, and he was head of the physics section (Fachspatenleiter für Physik), which included mathematics, astronomy, and meteorology. From this position in the RFR, he would play major roles in the German nuclear energy project
, sometimes also referred to as the Uranverein (Uranium Club).
In 1938, Esau was appointed Professor of Military Telecommunications Technology in the Faculty of Military Engineering, which had recently been founded at the Technische Hochschule Berlin (today, the Technische Universität Berlin
), in Berlin-Charlottenburg
.
From 1939 to 1945, Esau was ordinarius professor at the University of Berlin and president of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR, Reich Physical and Technical Institute; today, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
). At the same time he was a visiting lecturer at the Technische Akademie Bergisch-Land (Technical Academy of Bergisches Land
). Additionally, for this same period, Esau was president of the Deutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderrung der Forschung (German Association for the Support and Advancement of Scientific Research), also known for short as the Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft
(DFG), which had before 1937 been known as the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft
(NG; Emergency Association of German Science).
in December 1938/January 1939, the Uranverein, i.e., the German nuclear energy project
, had an initial start in April before being formed a second time under the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office) in September.
First Uranverein
Paul Harteck
was director of the physical chemistry department at the University of Hamburg
and an advisor to the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office). On 24 April 1939, along with his teaching assistant Wilhelm Groth
, Harteck made contact with the Reichskriegsministerium (RKM, Reich Ministry of War) to alert them to the potential of military applications of nuclear chain reactions. Two days earlier, on 22 April 1939, after hearing a colloquium paper by Wilhelm Hanle
on the use of uranium
fission
in a Uranmaschine (uranium machine, i.e., nuclear reactor
), Georg Joos
, along with Hanle, notified Wilhelm Dames, at the Reichserziehungsministerium
(REM, Reich Ministry of Education), of potential military applications of nuclear energy. The communication was given to Abraham Esau, head of the physics section of the Reichsforschungsrat
(RFR, Reich Research Council) at the REM. On 29 April, a group, organized by Esau, met at the REM to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear chain reaction
. The group included the physicists Walther Bothe
, Robert Döpel
, Hans Geiger, Wolfgang Gentner
(probably sent by Walther Bothe
), Wilhelm Hanle
, Gerhard Hoffmann
, and Georg Joos; Peter Debye
was invited, but he did not attend. After this, informal work began at the Georg-August University of Göttingen by Joos, Hanle, and their colleague Reinhold Mannfopff; the group of physicists was known informally as the first Uranverein (Uranium Club) and formally as Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kernphysik. The group’s work was discontinued in August 1939, when the three were called to military training.
Second Uranverein
The second Uranverein began after the Heereswaffenamt squeezed out the Reichsforschungsrat
of the Reichserziehungsministerium
and started the formal German nuclear energy project under military auspices. The second Uranverein was formed on 1 September 1939, the day World War II began, and it had its first meeting on 16 September 1939. The meeting was organized by Kurt Diebner
, advisor to the HWA, and held in Berlin. The invitees included Walther Bothe
, Siegfried Flügge
, Hans Geiger, Otto Hahn
, Paul Harteck
, Gerhard Hoffmann, Josef Mattauch
, and Georg Stetter
. A second meeting was held soon thereafter and included Klaus Clusius
, Robert Döpel
, Werner Heisenberg
, and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
. Also at this time, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics, after World War II the Max Planck Institute for Physics
), in Berlin-Dahlem
, was placed under HWA authority, with Diebner as the administrative director, and the military control of the nuclear research commenced.
When it was apparent that the nuclear energy project would not make a decisive contribution to ending the war effort in the near term, control of the KWIP was returned in January 1942 to its umbrella organization, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG, Kaiser Wilhelm Society, after World War II the Max-Planck Gesellschaft
), and HWA control of the project was relinquished to the RFR in July 1942. The nuclear energy project thereafter maintained its kriegswichtig (important for the war) designation and funding continued from the military.
On 9 June 1942, Adolf Hitler
issued a decree for the reorganization of the RFR as a separate legal entity under the Reichsministerium für Bewaffnung und Munition (RMBM, Reich Ministry for Armament and Ammunition, after autumn 1943 the Reich Ministry for Armament and War Production); the decree appointed Reich Marshal Hermann Göring’s
as the president. The reorganization was done under the initiative of Reich Minister for Armament and Ammunition Albert Speer
; it was necessary as the RFR under Minister Bernhard Rust was ineffective and not achieving it purpose. It was the hope that Göring would manage the RFR with the same discipline and efficiency as he had in the aviation sector. On 8 December 1942, Abraham Esau was appointed as Hermann Göring’s
Bevollmächtiger (plenipotentiary) for nuclear physics research under the RFR – at this point, Esau was in charge of the German nuclear energy project. At the end of 1943, Esau resigned as plenipotentiary of nuclear physics; in December, Walther Gerlach replaced him as plenipotentiary for nuclear physics and as head of the physics section of the RFR. As of 1 January 1944, Esau, replacing Johannes Plendl
, became the plenipotentiary of the high-frequency engineering and radar working group (A. G. Hochsfrequenzphysik). In the final analysis, placing the RFR under Göring’s administrative control had little effect on the German nuclear energy project.
Over time, the HWA and then the RFR controlled the German nuclear energy project. The most influential people were Erich Schumann
, Abraham Esau, Walther Gerlach, and Kurt Diebner
. During World War II, Esau was one of the most powerful and influential physicists in Germany. Even after Esau left his position as plenipotentiary for nuclear physics and head of the physics section at the RFR at the end of 1942, he continued to have significant authority and influence as president of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, as is attested to by the fact that he was able to continue research efforts for the Urainverein under the highest priority level for urgent development projects (Dringlichkeitsentwicklung, DE).
. He was acquitted and expelled in 1948. Later, he was tried and convicted in absentia
; without a conviction, the Dutch could not make a legal claim for damages from Germany.
Thanks to support from Leo Brandt, a science policy-maker of North Rhine-Westphalia
, Esau was able to establish himself back into the German scientific community. From 1949, Esau was a visiting professor of short-wave technology at the RWTH Aachen University
. From 1953, he was also head of the Institute of High-Frequency Engineering of the German Aeronautical Research Institute in Mülheim an der Ruhr
.
Esau died in Düsseldorf
.
for his work on diathermy
.
The science policy-maker of North Rhine-Westphalia
Leo Brant had nominated Esau for a medal of distinction in 1954. The award was not made, due to the intervention of the physicist Max von Laue
, who pointed out Esau’s prominent role as a chief representative of National Socialism.
(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
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
.
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
.
After receipt of his doctorate from the University of Berlin, Esau worked at Telefunken
Telefunken
Telefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
, where he pioneered very high frequency (VHF) waves used in radar, radio, and television, and he was president of the Deutscher Telefunken Verband. During World War I, he was a prisoner of war of the French; he was repatriated to Germany in 1918. In 1925, he was appointed professor at the University of Jena, where he also served as rector. From 1933, Esau was the State Councilor in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
.
From 1937, Esau was head of the physics section of the newly created Reich Research Council (RFR). From 1939, he was a professor at the University of Berlin and president of the Reich Physical and Technical Institute. From his position in the RFR, he initiated the first meeting of the Uranium Club in early 1939, the precursor to the Army Ordnance Office (HWA) German nuclear energy project, which began in September of that year. When the HWA gave control of the project to the RFR in 1942, Esau became the plenipotentiary of nuclear physics and was in control of the project. In 1944, Esau became the plenipotentiary of the high-frequency engineering and radar working group.
During World War II, Esau was one of the most powerful physicists in Germany. After World War II until 1948, Esau was a prisoner of war of the Dutch. From 1949, Esau was a visiting professor of short-wave technology at the RWTH Aachen
RWTH Aachen
RWTH Aachen University is a research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with roughly 33,000 students enrolled in 101 study programs....
. From 1953, he was also head of the Institute of High-Frequency Engineering of the German Aeronautical Research Institute.
Education
Esau was born in Tiegenhagen (Tujec) in Landkreis MarienburgMarienburg
-The historical German names of these places:*Ordensburg Marienburg , the large brick castle built by the Teutonic Knights**Malbork, Poland, site of the Ordensburg Marienburg, formerly Marienburg in Westpreußen and during World War II, Nazi Stalag XX-B for enlisted men*Alūksne, Latvia*Feldioara,...
, West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
. From 1902 to 1907, Esau studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (today, the Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
) and the Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig (today, Gdańsk University of Technology
Gdansk University of Technology
The Gdańsk University of Technology is a technical university in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz, and one of the oldest universities in Poland. It has nine faculties and more than 24 thousand undergraduate, as well as about 400 doctoral students...
). From 1906 to 1909, he was a teaching assistant to Max Wien
Max Wien
Max Wien was a German physicist and the director of the Institute of Physics at the University of Jena. He was born in Königsberg, Prussia.Wien studied under Helmholtz and Kundt. He invented the "Löschfunkensender" during the years 1906 to 1909 and the Wien bridge in 1891...
at Danzig. He received his doctorate at the University of Berlin in 1908.
Early years
From 1909 to 1910, Esau was a volunteer at the radio transmission division of the Berlin telegraph battalion. From 1910 to 1912, he was teaching assistant at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-WittenbergUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg
The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany...
. From 1914, he was on active duty with the German military in Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
; he became a prisoner of war of the French and did not return to Germany until 1918.
From 1912 to 1925, Esau served as laboratory chairman of the Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie (Wireless Telegraph Society) in Berlin. During this time, at Telefunken
Telefunken
Telefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
, he pioneered very high frequency (VHF) waves used in radar, radio, and television. In 1921 and 1922, he had stays in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. From 1925, Esau was president of the Deutscher Telefunken Verband.
In 1925, Esau began his association with the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. From 1925 to 1927, he was an extraordinarius professor of technical physics, and from 1927 to 1939, he was an ordinarius professor of technical physics and director of the department of technical physics. He was rector there from 1932 to 1935 and in 1937. Dr. Esau was also the advicer of Dr. Lothar Rohde and Dr. Hermann Schwarz
Hermann Schwarz
Karl Hermann Amandus Schwarz was a German mathematician, known for his work in complex analysis. He was born in Hermsdorf, Silesia and died in Berlin...
, who later on founded the company Rohde & Schwarz
Rohde & Schwarz
Rohde & Schwarz is an independent group of companies specializing in electronics. Well known as a manufacturer of electronic test equipment, they also manufacture equipment used for broadcasting, radiolocation, and radio communications...
, in 1933 during their doctorate in Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
.
In October 1933, Esau became a Staatsrat (State Councilor) in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, a position he held until the end of World War II. This role gave him direct access to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
.
On the initiative of Erich Schumann
Erich Schumann
Erich Schumann was a German physicist who specialized in acoustics and explosives, and had a penchant for music, as he was a grandson of the classical composer Robert Schumann. He was a general officer in the army and a professor at the University of Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin...
, the Reichsforschungsrat
Reichsforschungsrat
The Reichsforschungsrat was created in Germany in 1937 under the Education Ministry for the purpose of centralized planning of all basic and applied research, with the exception of aeronautical research...
(RFR, Reich Research Council) was inaugurated on 16 March 1937 by Reich Minister Bernhard Rust
Bernhard Rust
Dr. Bernhard Rust was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture in Nazi Germany. A combination of school administrator and zealous Nazi, he issued decrees, often bizarre, at every level of the German educational system to immerse German youth in the National Socialist philosophy...
of the Reichserziehungsministerium
Reichserziehungsministerium
The Reichserziehungsministerium was officially known as the Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung .-Background:...
(REM, Reich Education Ministry). The RFR was set up to centralize planning for all basic and applied research in Germany, with the exception of aeronautical research, which was under the supervision of Reich Marshal Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
. Support for research was decided by the heads of 13 special sections of the RFR (Fachspatenleiter). Esau was a member of the RFR from its inception, and he was head of the physics section (Fachspatenleiter für Physik), which included mathematics, astronomy, and meteorology. From this position in the RFR, he would play major roles in the German nuclear energy project
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
, sometimes also referred to as the Uranverein (Uranium Club).
In 1938, Esau was appointed Professor of Military Telecommunications Technology in the Faculty of Military Engineering, which had recently been founded at the Technische Hochschule Berlin (today, the Technische Universität Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
), in Berlin-Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
.
From 1939 to 1945, Esau was ordinarius professor at the University of Berlin and president of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR, Reich Physical and Technical Institute; today, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt is based in Braunschweig and Berlin. It is the national institute for natural and engineering sciences and the highest technical authority for metrology and physical safety engineering in Germany....
). At the same time he was a visiting lecturer at the Technische Akademie Bergisch-Land (Technical Academy of Bergisches Land
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land is a low mountain range region within the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over 20 artificial lakes...
). Additionally, for this same period, Esau was president of the Deutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderrung der Forschung (German Association for the Support and Advancement of Scientific Research), also known for short as the Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...
(DFG), which had before 1937 been known as the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft
Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft
Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft was founded on 30 October 1920 on the initiative of leading members of the Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften – Fritz Haber, Max Planck, and Ernst von Harnack – and the former Preußischen...
(NG; Emergency Association of German Science).
World War II and the Uranverein
Shortly after the discovery of nuclear fissionNuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
in December 1938/January 1939, the Uranverein, i.e., the German nuclear energy project
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
, had an initial start in April before being formed a second time under the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office) in September.
First Uranverein
Paul Harteck
Paul Harteck
Paul Karl Maria Harteck was a German physical chemist. He was arrested by the allied British and American Armed Forces and incarcerated at Farm Hall for six months in 1945 under Operation Epsilon.-Education:Harteck studied chemistry at the University of Vienna and the Humboldt University of Berlin...
was director of the physical chemistry department at the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
and an advisor to the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office). On 24 April 1939, along with his teaching assistant Wilhelm Groth
Wilhelm Groth
Wilhelm Groth was a German physical chemist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club; his main activity was the development of centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. After the war, he was a professor of physical chemistry at the...
, Harteck made contact with the Reichskriegsministerium (RKM, Reich Ministry of War) to alert them to the potential of military applications of nuclear chain reactions. Two days earlier, on 22 April 1939, after hearing a colloquium paper by Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle was a German experimental physicist. He is known for the Hanle effect. During World War II, he made contributions to the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club...
on the use of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
in a Uranmaschine (uranium machine, i.e., nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
), Georg Joos
Georg Joos
Georg Jakob Christof Joos was a German theoretical physicist. He wrote Lehrbuch der theoretischen Physik, first published in 1932 and one of the most influential theoretical physics textbooks of the 20th Century.-Education:Joos began his higher education in 1912 at the Technische Hochschule...
, along with Hanle, notified Wilhelm Dames, at the Reichserziehungsministerium
Reichserziehungsministerium
The Reichserziehungsministerium was officially known as the Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung .-Background:...
(REM, Reich Ministry of Education), of potential military applications of nuclear energy. The communication was given to Abraham Esau, head of the physics section of the Reichsforschungsrat
Reichsforschungsrat
The Reichsforschungsrat was created in Germany in 1937 under the Education Ministry for the purpose of centralized planning of all basic and applied research, with the exception of aeronautical research...
(RFR, Reich Research Council) at the REM. On 29 April, a group, organized by Esau, met at the REM to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear chain reaction
Nuclear chain reaction
A nuclear chain reaction occurs when one nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more nuclear reactions, thus leading to a self-propagating number of these reactions. The specific nuclear reaction may be the fission of heavy isotopes or the fusion of light isotopes...
. The group included the physicists Walther Bothe
Walther Bothe
Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe was a German nuclear physicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 with Max Born....
, Robert Döpel
Robert Döpel
Georg Robert Döpel was a German experimental nuclear physicist. He was a participant in a group known as the “first Uranverein,” which was spawned by a meeting conducted by the Reichserziehungsministerium, in April 1939, to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear reaction...
, Hans Geiger, Wolfgang Gentner
Wolfgang Gentner
Wolfgang Gentner was a German experimental nuclear physicist.Gentner received his doctorate in 1930 from the University of Frankfurt. From 1932 to 1935 he had a fellowship which allowed him to do postdoctoral research and study at Curie's Radium Institute at the University of Paris...
(probably sent by Walther Bothe
Walther Bothe
Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe was a German nuclear physicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 with Max Born....
), Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle was a German experimental physicist. He is known for the Hanle effect. During World War II, he made contributions to the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club...
, Gerhard Hoffmann
Gerhard Hoffmann
Gerhard Hoffmann was a German nuclear physicist. During World War II, he contributed to the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club.-Education:...
, and Georg Joos; Peter Debye
Peter Debye
Peter Joseph William Debye FRS was a Dutch physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.-Early life:...
was invited, but he did not attend. After this, informal work began at the Georg-August University of Göttingen by Joos, Hanle, and their colleague Reinhold Mannfopff; the group of physicists was known informally as the first Uranverein (Uranium Club) and formally as Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kernphysik. The group’s work was discontinued in August 1939, when the three were called to military training.
Second Uranverein
The second Uranverein began after the Heereswaffenamt squeezed out the Reichsforschungsrat
Reichsforschungsrat
The Reichsforschungsrat was created in Germany in 1937 under the Education Ministry for the purpose of centralized planning of all basic and applied research, with the exception of aeronautical research...
of the Reichserziehungsministerium
Reichserziehungsministerium
The Reichserziehungsministerium was officially known as the Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung .-Background:...
and started the formal German nuclear energy project under military auspices. The second Uranverein was formed on 1 September 1939, the day World War II began, and it had its first meeting on 16 September 1939. The meeting was organized by Kurt Diebner
Kurt Diebner
Kurt Diebner was a German nuclear physicist who is well known for directing and administrating the German nuclear energy project, a secretive program aiming to built weapon of mass destruction for the Nazi Germany during the course of World War II...
, advisor to the HWA, and held in Berlin. The invitees included Walther Bothe
Walther Bothe
Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe was a German nuclear physicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 with Max Born....
, Siegfried Flügge
Siegfried Flügge
Siegfried Flügge was a German theoretical physicist and made contributions to nuclear physics. He worked at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Chemie and worked in the German Uranverein...
, Hans Geiger, Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn FRS was a German chemist and Nobel laureate, a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry". Hahn was a courageous opposer of Jewish persecution by the Nazis and after World War II he became a passionate campaigner...
, Paul Harteck
Paul Harteck
Paul Karl Maria Harteck was a German physical chemist. He was arrested by the allied British and American Armed Forces and incarcerated at Farm Hall for six months in 1945 under Operation Epsilon.-Education:Harteck studied chemistry at the University of Vienna and the Humboldt University of Berlin...
, Gerhard Hoffmann, Josef Mattauch
Josef Mattauch
Josef Mattauch was a German physicist known for his work in the investigation of the isotopic abundances by mass spectrometry. He developed the Mattauch isobar rule in 1934.-Mattauch-Herzog geometry mass spectrometer:...
, and Georg Stetter
Georg Stetter
Georg Stetter was an Austrian-German nuclear physicist. Stetter was Director of the Second Physics Institute of the University of Vienna. He was a principal member of the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club. In the latter years of World War II, he was also the Director...
. A second meeting was held soon thereafter and included Klaus Clusius
Klaus Clusius
Klaus Clusius was a German physical chemist from Breslau , Silesia. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club; he worked on isotope separation techniques and heavy water production...
, Robert Döpel
Robert Döpel
Georg Robert Döpel was a German experimental nuclear physicist. He was a participant in a group known as the “first Uranverein,” which was spawned by a meeting conducted by the Reichserziehungsministerium, in April 1939, to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear reaction...
, Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
, and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
. Also at this time, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics, after World War II the Max Planck Institute for Physics
Max Planck Institute for Physics
Max Planck Institute for Physics is a physics institute in Munich, Germany that specializes in High Energy Physics and Astroparticle physics. It is part of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and is also known as the Werner Heisenberg Institute, after its first director.It was founded as the Kaiser Wilhelm...
), in Berlin-Dahlem
Dahlem (Berlin)
Dahlem 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. Dahlem is one of the most affluent parts of the city and home to the main campus of the Free University of Berlin with the...
, was placed under HWA authority, with Diebner as the administrative director, and the military control of the nuclear research commenced.
When it was apparent that the nuclear energy project would not make a decisive contribution to ending the war effort in the near term, control of the KWIP was returned in January 1942 to its umbrella organization, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG, Kaiser Wilhelm Society, after World War II the Max-Planck Gesellschaft
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....
), and HWA control of the project was relinquished to the RFR in July 1942. The nuclear energy project thereafter maintained its kriegswichtig (important for the war) designation and funding continued from the military.
On 9 June 1942, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
issued a decree for the reorganization of the RFR as a separate legal entity under the Reichsministerium für Bewaffnung und Munition (RMBM, Reich Ministry for Armament and Ammunition, after autumn 1943 the Reich Ministry for Armament and War Production); the decree appointed Reich Marshal Hermann Göring’s
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
as the president. The reorganization was done under the initiative of Reich Minister for Armament and Ammunition Albert Speer
Albert Speer
Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office...
; it was necessary as the RFR under Minister Bernhard Rust was ineffective and not achieving it purpose. It was the hope that Göring would manage the RFR with the same discipline and efficiency as he had in the aviation sector. On 8 December 1942, Abraham Esau was appointed as Hermann Göring’s
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
Bevollmächtiger (plenipotentiary) for nuclear physics research under the RFR – at this point, Esau was in charge of the German nuclear energy project. At the end of 1943, Esau resigned as plenipotentiary of nuclear physics; in December, Walther Gerlach replaced him as plenipotentiary for nuclear physics and as head of the physics section of the RFR. As of 1 January 1944, Esau, replacing Johannes Plendl
Johannes Plendl
Johannes "Hans" Plendl , German radar pioneer, was the scientist whose radio navigation techniques made possible the early German bombing successes in World War II.-Biography:...
, became the plenipotentiary of the high-frequency engineering and radar working group (A. G. Hochsfrequenzphysik). In the final analysis, placing the RFR under Göring’s administrative control had little effect on the German nuclear energy project.
Over time, the HWA and then the RFR controlled the German nuclear energy project. The most influential people were Erich Schumann
Erich Schumann
Erich Schumann was a German physicist who specialized in acoustics and explosives, and had a penchant for music, as he was a grandson of the classical composer Robert Schumann. He was a general officer in the army and a professor at the University of Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin...
, Abraham Esau, Walther Gerlach, and Kurt Diebner
Kurt Diebner
Kurt Diebner was a German nuclear physicist who is well known for directing and administrating the German nuclear energy project, a secretive program aiming to built weapon of mass destruction for the Nazi Germany during the course of World War II...
. During World War II, Esau was one of the most powerful and influential physicists in Germany. Even after Esau left his position as plenipotentiary for nuclear physics and head of the physics section at the RFR at the end of 1942, he continued to have significant authority and influence as president of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, as is attested to by the fact that he was able to continue research efforts for the Urainverein under the highest priority level for urgent development projects (Dringlichkeitsentwicklung, DE).
Post-World War II
After the war, the Americans turned Esau over to the Dutch to stand trial for his involvement in the plunder of research facilities of the electronics firm PhilipsPhilips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
. He was acquitted and expelled in 1948. Later, he was tried and convicted in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
; without a conviction, the Dutch could not make a legal claim for damages from Germany.
Thanks to support from Leo Brandt, a science policy-maker of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, Esau was able to establish himself back into the German scientific community. From 1949, Esau was a visiting professor of short-wave technology at the RWTH Aachen University
RWTH Aachen
RWTH Aachen University is a research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with roughly 33,000 students enrolled in 101 study programs....
. From 1953, he was also head of the Institute of High-Frequency Engineering of the German Aeronautical Research Institute in Mülheim an der Ruhr
Mülheim
Mülheim an der Ruhr, also called "City on the River", is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen...
.
Esau died in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
.
Honors
In 1954, he received an honorary doctorate from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität FreiburgUniversity of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
for his work on diathermy
Diathermy
In the natural sciences, the term diathermy means "electrically induced heat" and is commonly used for muscle relaxation. It is also a method of heating tissue electromagnetically or ultrasonically for therapeutic purposes in medicine.-Surgical uses:...
.
The science policy-maker of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
Leo Brant had nominated Esau for a medal of distinction in 1954. The award was not made, due to the intervention of the physicist Max von Laue
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals...
, who pointed out Esau’s prominent role as a chief representative of National Socialism.
Internal Reports
The following reports were published in Kernphysikalische ForschungsberichteKernphysikalische Forschungsberichte
Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte was an internal publication of the German Uranverein, which was initiated under the Heereswaffenamt in 1939; in 1942, supervision of the Uranverein was turned over to the Reichsforschungsrat under the Reichserziehungsministerium...
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), an internal publication of the German Uranverein
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
. 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
Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos was an effort at the end of World War II by the Allies , branched off from the Manhattan Project, to investigate the German nuclear energy project, seize German nuclear resources, materials and personnel to further American research and to prevent their capture by the Soviets, and...
and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
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
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...
.
- Abraham Esau Herstellung von Leuchtfarben ohne Anwendung von Radium G-213 (5 May 1943)
- Abraham Esau Einleitung G-214 (5 May 1943)
Books
- Abraham Esau Weltnachrichtenverkehr und Weltnachrichtenmonopole (Fischer, 1932)
- Abraham Esau 375 Jahre Universität Jena (Fischer, 1933)
- Abraham Esau Die Entwicklung der deutschen drahtlosen Nachrichtentechnik (Fischer, 1934)
- Abraham Esau Einführung zu den Berichten der Herren Frhr von Handel und Plendl (Oldenbourg, 1939)
- Abraham Esau Elektrische Wellen im Zentimetergebiet (Oldenbourg, 1940)
- Abraham Esau Werner von Siemens (de Gruyter, 1943)
- Abraham Esau Ortung mit elektrischen und Ultraschallwellen in Technik und Natur (Westdt. Verl., 1953)
- Abraham Esau Der Ultraschall und seine technischen Anwendungen (Westdt. Verl., 1955)