the high sided valley of the Upper Engadine, just seven km from St Moritz.
The first hotels were built here early in the 19th century—often in the ‘Belle
Époque’ style—and adding to the charm of this small resort was the architectural blend of fine old Engadine houses with their ‘sgraffito’ (decorated
walls) dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. Pontresina sat below the
towering Bernina pass—the route towards Italy—and its magisterial scenery
offered hundreds of kilometers of walks such as to the wild and romantic Val
Roseg or the Muottas Muragl—a trip to the top of either rewarding the
walker with a magnificent view over the lakes of the Upper Engadine. Here
the air was fresh and cool, and Karlsruhe should have been a world away but
Haber found it difficult to release himself—even for a short time—from his
concerns for the ammonia synthesis.
1 From his hotel room he wrote to Bosch
to check on progress, which at the time centred on the suitability of osmium
and uranium as catalysts, and the discovery of a cheaper but equally effective
alternative. In terms of the latter, Bosch reported that nothing outstanding
had yet showed up but that some concern was developing regarding both the
suitability of osmium, and the durability of uranium.
No doubt all of this worried Haber and it may well have impinged on his
enjoyment of the break, but for Robert there was a more immediate concern.
With Haber luxuriating in Pontresina, Robert travelled to Berlin in late
August 1909. Max Meyer’s offer of a position at the ‘Auer’ company allowed
him to move to the heart of a vibrant capital city, one which had recently
become the fifth in Europe to boast an underground railway (in 1902) and
probably familiar to him when accompanying Haber on his search for the
perfect catalyst. It’s possible to rationalise Robert’s move to Berlin in terms of
the insecurity of his position at Karlsruhe after the BASF monopolised the
industrialisation of the Haber-Le Rossignol process. But one also has to
recognise the exciting new challenge that the new ‘Auer’ factory (opened in
1908) offered him, and the strategic aims of its controlling owner, Leopold
Koppel. For these were the ‘electric years’, the years of Tesla, Westinghouse
and Edison, and Koppel was hatching big plans for his fellow Jew Haber,
plans which Mayer and Le Rossignol’s presence in Berlin undoubtedly
facilitated.
9.2 Leopold Koppel
Koppel, a reclusive banker and entrepreneur, was born in Dresden on 20
October 1843. In 1890 he established his private banking house, Koppel and
Co., the source of much of his wealth, and in 1892 along with the Austrian
188
D. Sheppard
The first hotels were built here early in the 19th century—often in the ‘Belle
Époque’ style—and adding to the charm of this small resort was the architectural blend of fine old Engadine houses with their ‘sgraffito’ (decorated
walls) dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. Pontresina sat below the
towering Bernina pass—the route towards Italy—and its magisterial scenery
offered hundreds of kilometers of walks such as to the wild and romantic Val
Roseg or the Muottas Muragl—a trip to the top of either rewarding the
walker with a magnificent view over the lakes of the Upper Engadine. Here
the air was fresh and cool, and Karlsruhe should have been a world away but
Haber found it difficult to release himself—even for a short time—from his
concerns for the ammonia synthesis.
1 From his hotel room he wrote to Bosch
to check on progress, which at the time centred on the suitability of osmium
and uranium as catalysts, and the discovery of a cheaper but equally effective
alternative. In terms of the latter, Bosch reported that nothing outstanding
had yet showed up but that some concern was developing regarding both the
suitability of osmium, and the durability of uranium.
No doubt all of this worried Haber and it may well have impinged on his
enjoyment of the break, but for Robert there was a more immediate concern.
With Haber luxuriating in Pontresina, Robert travelled to Berlin in late
August 1909. Max Meyer’s offer of a position at the ‘Auer’ company allowed
him to move to the heart of a vibrant capital city, one which had recently
become the fifth in Europe to boast an underground railway (in 1902) and
probably familiar to him when accompanying Haber on his search for the
perfect catalyst. It’s possible to rationalise Robert’s move to Berlin in terms of
the insecurity of his position at Karlsruhe after the BASF monopolised the
industrialisation of the Haber-Le Rossignol process. But one also has to
recognise the exciting new challenge that the new ‘Auer’ factory (opened in
1908) offered him, and the strategic aims of its controlling owner, Leopold
Koppel. For these were the ‘electric years’, the years of Tesla, Westinghouse
and Edison, and Koppel was hatching big plans for his fellow Jew Haber,
plans which Mayer and Le Rossignol’s presence in Berlin undoubtedly
facilitated.
9.2 Leopold Koppel
Koppel, a reclusive banker and entrepreneur, was born in Dresden on 20
October 1843. In 1890 he established his private banking house, Koppel and
Co., the source of much of his wealth, and in 1892 along with the Austrian
188
D. Sheppard