Hugo Stoltzenberg
Encyclopedia
Hugo Gustav Adolf Stoltzenberg (1883–1974) was a German chemist
associated with the German government's clandestine chemical warfare
activities in the early 1920s.
Stoltzenberg was a close collaborator of Nobel Prize laureate Fritz Haber
, the father of German chemical warfare. They both collaborated in the disposal of chemical warfare materials and the building of manufacturing plants in La Marañosa
, near Madrid
, Spain
, the Soviet Union
and Germany
.
near Landeck, Tirol. His father, Karl Theodor Stoltzenberg (1854–1893), was an engineer. Stoltzenberg attended school in Vienna, Leipzig and East Cambridge, and completed his Abitur
in 1904 in Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. Er studied law, then mathematics, and finally chemistry in Halle from 1905 to 1907. In 1907, he went to Gießen
for a year. He returned to Halle and was an assistant to Daniel Vorländer
until 1910. In 1911, he became an assistant to Heinrich Biltz
in Breslau and met the chemist Margarete Bergius, a sister of Friedrich Bergius
, whom he married in 1915.
(22 April to 25 May 1915) in Belgium
where the Germans used poison gas for the first time on the Western Front
. The first gas attack occurred against Canadian soldiers and also against a force of mostly colonial soldiers from French Africa known as French colonial troops. The gas used was Chlorine gas. Mustard gas, also called Yperite from the name of this city, was also used for the first time near Ypres in the autumn of 1917.
Prior to that, Stoltzenberg had injured his eye in an incident involving a chlorine gas cylinder which exploded and blinded him in the left eye.
, Stoltzenberg participated in clearing away the stockpiles of the chemical warfare agents in Lüneburg Heath
in Lower Saxony
, Germany
between 1920 and 1925. Many of those agents were sold to the U.S. and Sweden while the rest were taken to "Chemische Fabrik Stoltzenberg", his own company in Hamburg
.
plant "Fabrica Nacional de Productos Quimicos" which served the Spanish army with chemical warfare agents (including mustard gas bombs) used against the Riffian rebels in Spanish Morocco
during the Third Rif War
between 1923 and 1927. He later became a Spanish citizen while being the chief engineer of the plant.
with a modern mustard gas plant. He quit his collaboration efforts around 1928, heading to work at Ravinica plant in Yugoslavia
before working in Brazil
between 1937 and 1942.
Upon his return to Germany he sat up a new laboratory producing “timed-release hydrogen cyanide,” which was patented in Great Britain
.
. He continued his research at his laboratory in Hamburg before selling it in 1969. He died in 1974.
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
associated with the German government's clandestine chemical warfare
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
activities in the early 1920s.
Stoltzenberg was a close collaborator of Nobel Prize laureate Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber was a German chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. Haber, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid...
, the father of German chemical warfare. They both collaborated in the disposal of chemical warfare materials and the building of manufacturing plants in La Marañosa
La Marañosa
La Marañosa is a locality of Madrid, Spain. Its hills overlook both banks of the Jarama river.The locality is known for being home of The "Fabrica Nacional de Productos Quimicos" which supplied the Spanish Army of Africa with chemical warfare agents during the Rif rebellion between 1923 and...
, near Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Early life
Stoltzenberg was born on 27 April 1883 in StrengenStrengen
Strengen is a municipality in the district of Landeck in Tyrol, Austria and is located 7.70 km west of the city of Landeck. The village was first mentioned in an atlas in 1774 as "Gstreng". Main source of income is very 'gentle' tourism....
near Landeck, Tirol. His father, Karl Theodor Stoltzenberg (1854–1893), was an engineer. Stoltzenberg attended school in Vienna, Leipzig and East Cambridge, and completed his Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
in 1904 in Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. Er studied law, then mathematics, and finally chemistry in Halle from 1905 to 1907. In 1907, he went to Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
for a year. He returned to Halle and was an assistant to Daniel Vorländer
Daniel Vorländer
Daniel Vorländer was a German chemist who synthesized most of the liquid crystals known until his retirement in 1935.Vorländer was born in Eupen in Rhenish Prussia...
until 1910. In 1911, he became an assistant to Heinrich Biltz
Heinrich Biltz
Heinrich Biltz was a German chemist and professor. Heinrich Biltz was the son of Karl Friedrich Biltz who was a scientist of literature and theatre critic and married to Freya de la Motte Fouqué, a daughter of a physician in Kiel...
in Breslau and met the chemist Margarete Bergius, a sister of Friedrich Bergius
Friedrich Bergius
Friedrich Karl Rudolf Bergius was a German chemist known for the Bergius process for producing synthetic fuel from coal, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in recognition of contributions to the invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods...
, whom he married in 1915.
World War I
Stoltzenberg was the main protagonist at the Second Battle of YpresSecond Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
(22 April to 25 May 1915) in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
where the Germans used poison gas for the first time on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. The first gas attack occurred against Canadian soldiers and also against a force of mostly colonial soldiers from French Africa known as French colonial troops. The gas used was Chlorine gas. Mustard gas, also called Yperite from the name of this city, was also used for the first time near Ypres in the autumn of 1917.
Prior to that, Stoltzenberg had injured his eye in an incident involving a chlorine gas cylinder which exploded and blinded him in the left eye.
Interwar years
After the end of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Stoltzenberg participated in clearing away the stockpiles of the chemical warfare agents in Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
between 1920 and 1925. Many of those agents were sold to the U.S. and Sweden while the rest were taken to "Chemische Fabrik Stoltzenberg", his own company in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
Involvement in the Rif War
Stoltzenberg built a close relationship with the Spanish government. He signed a contract to fully assist the establishment of the La MarañosaLa Marañosa
La Marañosa is a locality of Madrid, Spain. Its hills overlook both banks of the Jarama river.The locality is known for being home of The "Fabrica Nacional de Productos Quimicos" which supplied the Spanish Army of Africa with chemical warfare agents during the Rif rebellion between 1923 and...
plant "Fabrica Nacional de Productos Quimicos" which served the Spanish army with chemical warfare agents (including mustard gas bombs) used against the Riffian rebels in Spanish Morocco
Spanish Morocco
The Spanish protectorate of Morocco was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Spanish Empire, established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and ending in 1956, when both France and Spain recognized Moroccan independence.-Territorial borders:...
during the Third Rif War
Rif War (1920)
The Rif War, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought between Spain and the Moroccan Rif Berbers.-Rifian forces:...
between 1923 and 1927. He later became a Spanish citizen while being the chief engineer of the plant.
Other contracts
In 1923, he signed his second contract. The Soviets wanted to modernize their chemical arsenal and asked Stoltzenberg to become a chief engineer in replacing the chlorine gas plant at SaratovSaratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
with a modern mustard gas plant. He quit his collaboration efforts around 1928, heading to work at Ravinica plant in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
before working in 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...
between 1937 and 1942.
Upon his return to Germany he sat up a new laboratory producing “timed-release hydrogen cyanide,” which was patented in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Later years
Stoltzenberg joined the Nazi party in the middle of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He continued his research at his laboratory in Hamburg before selling it in 1969. He died in 1974.