The German nickname for Karlsruhe was therefore Fächerstadt or ‘fan city’.
The Schloss itself consisted of a south facing central section with the ‘Schloss
tower’ at the centre of the ‘wheel’. The wings ran out at 45° angles from the
tower pointing SE and SW. The two roads running parallel with these wings
formed a sector containing the old city centre and included Nowakanlage.
The old city was sophisticated, refined, and offered markets, cafés, bars,
museums, libraries and of course the Schlossgarten’s beautiful walks. Added
to this, the colleges of the Hochschule were only about 1 km away ‘as the
crow flies’. Karlsruhe, therefore was an ideal city in which to study, relax and
of course meet new friends. Being close to the French border, ‘Le Rossignol’
too must have felt—culturally at least—quite at home.
When Robert first met Haber at the Hochschule, they discussed the work
he had published at UCL. Robert had recently attended a short course on
electrochemistry there and Haber naturally decided to ask him to repeat some
work in that area.
52 Over the next few months he did ‘various things’
52
—
including beginning a study of the dissociation of carbon dioxide in the
carbon monoxide flame, an exercise consistent with Haber’s life long interest
in the chemistry of flames. Working in a small laboratory alongside Krassa
and Koenig,
52 Robert described these first few months as a ‘very happy time for
everybody,’
52 and Haber as just a charming ‘big boy’
52
—but not of course in
any kind of Mae West sense! Robert also came to Karlsruhe at probably the
happiest time in Haber’s life, J. E. Coates
1 later recalling his own time there
with him;
One remembers summer evenings round a punch bowl in the Stadtgarten, or
walks through the woods to some favourite Gasthaus, when his lively spirit, his
stories and charming ways were a great delight …
Robert too was smitten by Haber and they clearly got on very well together;
he ‘could not have been nicer’, he says, he was never the ‘Herr Professor’ he
was down-to-earth and he could enjoy things thoroughly, he was also
extremely kind and he would find time to help everybody.
52 Robert was often
invited to Haber’s home to help with his German, and there he met Clara.
She was ‘very shy’ and that gave a ‘wrong impression’, but even then it was
clear that the couple were not suited.
52 Haber could be rude to Clara and that
Plate 2.5 Robert’s hand-written entry in the Hochschule register for 1906. Courtesy of
KIT-Archives
2 Fritz Haber and Karlsruhe
69
The Schloss itself consisted of a south facing central section with the ‘Schloss
tower’ at the centre of the ‘wheel’. The wings ran out at 45° angles from the
tower pointing SE and SW. The two roads running parallel with these wings
formed a sector containing the old city centre and included Nowakanlage.
The old city was sophisticated, refined, and offered markets, cafés, bars,
museums, libraries and of course the Schlossgarten’s beautiful walks. Added
to this, the colleges of the Hochschule were only about 1 km away ‘as the
crow flies’. Karlsruhe, therefore was an ideal city in which to study, relax and
of course meet new friends. Being close to the French border, ‘Le Rossignol’
too must have felt—culturally at least—quite at home.
When Robert first met Haber at the Hochschule, they discussed the work
he had published at UCL. Robert had recently attended a short course on
electrochemistry there and Haber naturally decided to ask him to repeat some
work in that area.
52 Over the next few months he did ‘various things’
52
—
including beginning a study of the dissociation of carbon dioxide in the
carbon monoxide flame, an exercise consistent with Haber’s life long interest
in the chemistry of flames. Working in a small laboratory alongside Krassa
and Koenig,
52 Robert described these first few months as a ‘very happy time for
everybody,’
52 and Haber as just a charming ‘big boy’
52
—but not of course in
any kind of Mae West sense! Robert also came to Karlsruhe at probably the
happiest time in Haber’s life, J. E. Coates
1 later recalling his own time there
with him;
One remembers summer evenings round a punch bowl in the Stadtgarten, or
walks through the woods to some favourite Gasthaus, when his lively spirit, his
stories and charming ways were a great delight …
Robert too was smitten by Haber and they clearly got on very well together;
he ‘could not have been nicer’, he says, he was never the ‘Herr Professor’ he
was down-to-earth and he could enjoy things thoroughly, he was also
extremely kind and he would find time to help everybody.
52 Robert was often
invited to Haber’s home to help with his German, and there he met Clara.
She was ‘very shy’ and that gave a ‘wrong impression’, but even then it was
clear that the couple were not suited.
52 Haber could be rude to Clara and that
Plate 2.5 Robert’s hand-written entry in the Hochschule register for 1906. Courtesy of
KIT-Archives
2 Fritz Haber and Karlsruhe
69