Abstract
Hermann Staudinger (23.3.1881–8.9.1965) gave plastics chemistry its theoretical foundations. Although his outstanding career as a scientist – doctorate at 22, professorship at 26 – culminated in the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Staudinger has remained largely unknown (as a public figure too) and nowadays only specialists are familiar with his life and work. In 1920, Hermann Staudinger published his “Macromolecular manifesto”, which gave plastics chemistry its foundations but was rejected resoundingly by the organic chemistry establishment. The opposition that Staudinger faced as a result threatened to isolate him, but he defended his theory stubbornly and continued his attempts to prove experimentally the existence of the “giant molecules” he had postulated in theory.
Hermann Staudinger started a new phase of his life in the 1930s: his theory about the macromolecular structure of polymers, which was hotly contested in the initial stages, finally received the recognition it deserved. While the opposition he faced from the scientific community decreased, new storm clouds developed in 1933, when the Nazis assumed power. Staudinger’s life’s work culminated in the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he received from the Swedish King on 10 December 1953. This was late recognition for a 72-year-old retired professor, who no longer represented the avant-garde of his subject but whose achievements are still being acknowledged. This article aims to rectify this. It portrays Staudinger as a productive and unorthodox thinker, who refused to accept conventional arguments in both his scientific and political activities – until his ideas finally became mainstream convictions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Staudinger H (1961) Arbeitserinnerungen. Hüthig, Heidelberg
Heimlich S (1998) Porträts in Plastik. Pioniere des polymeren Zeitalters. Hoppenstedt, Darmstadt
Staudinger H (1917) Technik und Krieg. Technik und Friedensfrage. Friedens-Warte, Blätter für zwischenstaatliche Organisation 19:196–202
Staudinger H (1947) Vom Aufstand der technischen Sklaven. Zeit und Leben im Geiste des Ganzen. Dr. Hans von Chamier, Essen
Sachsse H (1984) Ein Chemiker zur Friedensdiskussion: Hermann Staudinger zu Technik und Politik. Nachrichten aus Chemie, Technik und Laboratorium 32:974–976
Staudinger H (1917) Zur Beurteilung Amerikas. Staudinger estate, Deutsches Museum, Munich
Staudinger H (1919) Der erste Weltkrieg unter technischen Gesichtspunkten. Zukunft 37(56):341
Staudinger H (1919) La technique moderne et la guerre. Rev Int Croix Rouge 1:508–515
Klee E (2005) Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main
Staudinger H (1938) Über die makromolekulare Chemie. [Lecture held at the annual meeting of the Freiburg Scientific Society on 10 December 1938]. Hans Ferdinand Schulz, Freiburg im Breisgau (second printing: 1954)
Krüll C (1978) Hermann Staudinger. Aufbruch ins Zeitalter der Makromoleküle. Kultur & Technik 2(3):44–49
Staudinger H (1920) Über Polymerisation. Ber Dtsch Chem Ges 53:1073–1085
Staudinger H, Fritschi J (1922) Über die Hydrierung des Kautschuks und über seine Konstitution (fifth announcement about isoprene and rubber). Helv Chim Acta 5:785–806
Staudinger H (1924) Über die Konstitution des Kautschuks (sixth announcement about isoprene and rubber). Ber Dtsch Chem Ges 57:1203–1208
Priesner C (1980) H. Staudinger, H. Mark und K. H. Meyer. Thesen zur Größe und Struktur der Makromoleküle. Ursachen und Hintergründe eines akademischen Disputes. Verlag Chemie, Weinheim
Minssen M, Walgenbach W (1985) Naturstoffe, Kunststoffe und das Makromolekülkonzept. Volume I: Dokumente aus Forschung und Forschungsbetrieb. Textband. Didaktischer Dienst Barbara Franzbecker, Bad Salzdetfurth
Westermann A (2007) Plastik und politische Kultur in Westdeutschland. Chronos, Zurich
Krüll C (1978) Hermann Staudinger. Das Zeitalter der Kunststoffe. In: Kurt Fassmann et al. (eds) Die Großen der Weltgeschichte. Volume XI: Einstein bis King. Kindler, Zurich, pp 222–241
Deichmann U (2001) Flüchten, Mitmachen, Vergessen: Chemiker und Biochemiker in der NS-Zeit. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
Minssen M, Walgenbach W (1985) Naturstoffe, Kunststoffe und das Makromolekülkonzept. Volume II: Wegweiser zum Umgang mit Texten. Kommentarband. Didaktischer Dienst Barbara Franzbecker, Bad Salzdetfurth
Kunststoff-Museums-Verein (ed) (2004) Die Kunststoff-Macher. Kunststoff-Museums-Verein, Düsseldorf
Staudinger H, Röhrs W, Vieweg R (eds) (1939) Fortschritte der Chemie, Physik und Technik der makromolekularen Stoffe, vol 1. J. F. Lehmann, Munich and Berlin
Mark H (1970) Riesenmoleküle. Life – Wunder der Wissenschaft. Time Life, Weert
Mülhaupt R (2004) Hermann Staudinger und der Ursprung der Makromolekularen Chemie. Angew Chem 116(9):1072–1080
Staudinger H (1926) Die Chemie der hochmolekularen organischen Stoffe im Sinne der Kekuléschen Strukturlehre. Synoptic lecture requested by the German Chemical Society that was held at the 89th meeting of the Society of German Natural Science Researchers and Doctors in Düsseldorf on 23 September 1926. Ber Dtsch Chem Ges 59:3019–3043
Mark H (1980) Aus den frühen Tagen der Makromolekularen Chemie. Naturwissenschaften 67:477–483
Meyer KH (1928) Neue Wege in der organischen Strukturlehre und in der Erforschung hochpolymerer Verbindungen. Z Angew Chem 41:935–968
Meyer KH (1929) Bemerkungen zu den Arbeiten von H Staudinger. Z Angew Chem 42:76–77
Meyer KH (1929) Bemerkung zu der Abhandlung von H. Staudinger: “Über die Konstitution der hochmolekularen Stoffe”. Naturwissenschaften 17:255
Staudinger M (1976) Notizen über Hermann Staudinger. In: Staatliche Hermann-Staudinger-Realschule Konz (ed) 25th Anniversary of the Staatliche Hermann-Staudinger-Realschule Konz 1951–1976. Alois Raab, Trier, pp 41–42
Carothers WH (1932) Review on H Staudinger. J Am Chem Soc 54:4469–4471
Heidegger M (1933) Hönigswald aus der Schule des Neukantianismus. Freiburg, 25 June 1933. [Main Bavarian State Archive, Munich, MK 43772] Quoted in Schorcht C (1990) (ed) Philosophie an den bayerischen Universitäten 1933–1945. Harald Fischer, Erlangen, p 161
Ott H (1992) Der Fall Hermann Staudinger oder die Aktion Sternheim. Ein Beispiel der reibungslosen Arbeit im Kader der nationalsozialistischen Hochschullehrer. In: Ott H (ed) (1992) Martin Heidegger. Unterwegs zu seiner Biographie. Campus, Frankfurt am Main, pp 201–213
Farías V (1989) Heidegger und der Nationalsozialismus. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main
Jaenicke L (2003) Hermann Staudinger (1881–1965, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1953) – Makromoleküle oder Polymere? Ein Professorenleben im Oesterstedschen Gesetz des Umfelds. Jubiläumsfeiern – selbstbestimmter Anlass kultureller Frömmigkeit. BIOspektrum 9(5):601–604
Staudinger H (1934) Die Bedeutung der Chemie für das deutsche Volk (The importance of chemistry to the German people). Düsseldorfer Völkische Zeitung, 25 February 1934
Staudinger H (1945) Bericht über den Einfluss des Nationalsozialismus auf die Unterrichts-tätigkeit des chemischen Institutes (Report about the influence of National Socialism on the teaching activities of the chemical institute). Freiburg, 6 July 1945. [Freiburg State Archive, File C 25/2 No. 181]
Martin B (1994) Die Entlassung der jüdischen Lehrkräfte an der Freiburger Universität und die Bemühungen um ihre Wiedereingliederung nach 1945. Freiburger Universitätsblätter 129(3):7–46
Schnabel T (1991) Die Universität Freiburg im Krieg. In: John E, Martin B, Mück M, Ott H (eds) Die Freiburger Universität in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Ploetz, Freiburg, pp 221–241
Staudinger M (1987) Hermann Staudinger – der Mensch und der Forscher. In: Ernst Jostkleigrewe (ed) Makromolekulare Chemie. Das Werk Hermann Staudingers in seiner heutigen Bedeutung. Schriftenreihe der Katholischen Akademie der Erzdiözese Freiburg. Schnell & Steiner, Munich, pp 9–29
Kunze W (1953) Der Vater von Kunstseide, Buna und Nylon wurde Nobelpreisträger aus Trotz. Dr. Hermann Staudinger war sein Schlaf mehr wert, als Glückwunschtelegramme. Wochenend [Nuremberg], 21 November 1953
Klaar (1953) Moleküle wie Wolkenkratzer. Warum Professor Staudinger den Nobelpreis für Chemie erhielt. Der Fortschritt [Düsseldorf], 20 November 1953
Jostkleigrewe E (1987) Einführung. In: Jostkleigrewe E (ed) Makromolekulare Chemie. Das Werk Hermann Staudingers in seiner heutigen Bedeutung. Schriftenreihe der Katholischen Akademie der Erzdiözese Freiburg. Schnell & Steiner, Munich, pp 6–8
Hahn W (1953) Professor H. Staudinger. Nobelpreisträger für Chemie 1953. Lindauer Zeitung [Lindau], 12 November 1953
Theimer W (1953) Ihm verdanken wir das Nylon. Die Welt [Hamburg], 8 November 1953
Rothschuh KE (1963) Theorie des Organismus. Bios – Psyche – Pathos, vol 2. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Munich
Mark H (1966) Zur Entwicklung der Chemie der Makromoleküle. Hermann Staudinger zum Gedenken. Naturwissenschaften 53(4): 93–95
Hopff H (1969) Hermann Staudinger 1881–1965. Chemische Berichte 102:(5):XLI–XLVIII
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendices
Appendix 1
Addition is the name given in chemistry to a process in which a new substance is formed from two other substances without any by-products. In addition polymerisation, molecular components or monomers with different structures are linked to create high polymers with the migration of hydrogen atoms. This type of polymerisation is generally carried out by subjecting the monomers to heat and pressure. Two significant groups of plastics are manufactured by this process nowadays: polyurethanes and epoxy resins. Condensation polymerisation can take place when the reactants each have two functional groups that can combine with each other by producing water. Staudinger ([1], p. 108) writes: “Condensation polymerisation is characterised by a chemical reaction between two compounds with groups that are of the same or different kinds but are reactive, in which […] there are low-molecular by-products such as water, alcohols, ammonia, hydrochloric acid or similar substances. […] It is an absolute technical necessity for the by-products of the reaction to be removed in the condensation process […] for the reaction to go smoothly and successfully. The list of technically important plastic groups that are manufactured by the condensation polymerisation process includes the following: (1) the group of phenol formaldehyde resins (i.e. typical duroplasts such as Bakelite); (2) polyamides (nylon and perlon) and linear polyesters (particularly polycarbonates as thermoplastics); and (3) crosslinked polyesters as lacquer and casting resins. […] (In addition to this list, editor’s note) silicones”.
Appendix 2
Initiators are substances that need to be present to produce certain high polymers. They help to bring about polymerisation and can appear in the end product – in contrast to catalysts (reaction accelerators). Although the latter are involved in the chemical reaction temporarily, they are unchanged by it.
Appendix 3
The Swiss botanist Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli (1817–1891) coined the term “micelle” (from the Latin word micella, meaning “crumb”) in the nineteenth century. His studies about starch, cellulose and various types of protein led him to assume that “organised bodies”, i.e. substances extracted from biological systems, consisted of aggregates that were in turn made up of molecules. Nägeli named these aggregates, the size of which was between molecules and visible crystals, micelles. Staudinger [10, pp. 8–9] writes: “[…] numerous small molecules are held together by weak inter-molecular forces in a micelle; an increase in temperature or a change in solvent can already cause them to disintegrate as a result.”
Appendix 4
Letter of 2 November 1928 from Hermann Mark to Hermann Staudinger (excerpt; quoted in [15], pp. 93–94):
I was sorry to read in your letter that you feel your priority has been violated by the statements made by Professor Meyer. I am convinced that nothing was further from Professor Meyer’s mind than this and I myself have also tried especially hard to emphasise the importance of your fine work appropriately, not only in our work but also and in particular in my lecture in Hamburg.
I do, however, consider it sensible to introduce the word ‘primary valence chain’, because it refers to structures that are not completely identical to what has been called a molecule up to now. I always associate the word ‘molecule’ with the concept of a large number of completely identical structures, whereas the term primary valence chain is specifically supposed to include the fact that the same substance contains structures that are very similar to each other, cannot be separated from each other by chemical methods but differ from one another a little in their size, so that while it is not possible to indicate a precise molecular weight, an average primary valence chain length can be quoted. If this fact is specifically added to your macromolecule, then the two terms are, as far as I can see, identical and it is a question of convenience whether one says ‘primary valence chains’ or ‘macromolecules of fluctuating size’.
For this reason, I would not want to stress this difference too much; I think that it is much more expedient and much more appropriate to the situation if we agree that we essentially think the same, i.e. that the chemical primary valences play a crucial role in the structure of high-polymer substances. I consider it less important that we give different names to the intermediate factors. The main issue in the near future will, after all, be whether the positions held by you and us as well as Freudenberg, Willstätter and others prevail or whether the people will be proved right who think that it is necessary to assume new kinds of association forces not yet detected in chemistry up to now in order to explain everything that we have experienced. I think that we should proceed together in commenting on this issue and should not emphasise certain differences between our personal views that are in my opinion minor; if we did, the high-polymer community could easily make the mistake that is only too familiar from politics; that a major issue was not given close enough attention and was not presented clearly enough because of minor differences between opinions that were not far apart.
I will try and find a way to come to Freiburg again as soon as possible, because I would like very much to talk to you in detail about this issue.
Until then I remain
yours sincerely,
H. Mark
Appendix 5
1.1 Nomen est Omen
Hermann Staudinger’s memory is kept alive not least of all by the various uses to which his name has been put. Although they enhance scientific vocabulary in particular, one comes across them in day-to-day life as well, because schools and roads are among the things that have been named after Staudinger. Here is a short list:
-
Staudinger reaction
-
Staudinger synthesis
-
Staudinger index: The relationship between the viscosity and the molecular mass of dissolved polymers
-
Hermann Staudinger Prize: Endowed by BASF AG at the Society of German Chemists (GDCh) and awarded for the first time in 1971
-
Roads: Roads named after Hermann Staudinger (with and without his first name) can be found in Baden-Württemberg (Emmendingen, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Münsingen, Waldshut-Tiengen), Bavaria (Aschheim, Helmbrechts, Munich, Rehau, Trostberg, Viechtach), Hamburg, Hesse (Bürstadt, Darmstadt, Rodgau, Viernheim), Lower Saxony (Braunschweig, Lage/Lippe), North Rhine-Westphalia (Gütersloh, Velen) and Schleswig-Holstein (Norderstedt).
-
Schools: Staudinger Primary School and Carmelite/Staudinger-Realschule plus (former Staudinger-Hauptschule) in Worms, the city where Hermann Staudinger was born on 23 March 1881; Hermann-Staudinger-Realschule in Konz/Rhineland-Palatinate; Staudinger Comprehensive School in Freiburg im Breisgau; Hermann Staudinger Grammar School in Erlenbach/Bavaria; and Hermann Staudinger Graduate School at Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg im Breisgau
-
Staudinger cactus: Echinopsis × Trichocereus Multihybrid Hermann Staudinger with large flowers, hybrid BS.1491/2006 (breeder: Ingo Bartels, Burgdorf)
-
Hermann-Staudinger-Haus: The building is in Freiburg im Breisgau: it was established in 1962 and houses the Freiburg University Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry. The American Chemical Society and the Society of German Chemists unveiled a plaque in honour of Hermann Staudinger here on 19 April 1999. This plaque says:
Historic International Milestone in Chemistry – Origin of Polymer Sciences. Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, 1926–1956: This building has been named after Hermann Staudinger, who carried out his pioneering research on macromolecules in Freiburg from 1926 to 1956. His theories about the polymer structure of fibres and plastics as well as his later studies of biological macromolecules formed the basis for countless modern developments in the materials and biosciences and supported the rapid growth of the plastics industry. Staudinger received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1953 for his work in the polymer field.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Weber, M., Deussing, G. (2013). Courageous Questioning of Established Thinking: The Life and Work of Hermann Staudinger. In: Percec, V. (eds) Hierarchical Macromolecular Structures: 60 Years after the Staudinger Nobel Prize I. Advances in Polymer Science, vol 261. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/12_2013_249
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/12_2013_249
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-01136-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-01137-0
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)