Staudinger received congratulations from Bonn during this time too: on behalf of
the German government, the German Minister of the Interior, Dr Gerhard Schro ¨der
(CDU), congratulated him on 5 November and the German Chancellor Dr Konrad
Adenauer (CDU) followed on 10 November.
Staudinger had to wait until 10 December for the official presentation of the
Nobel Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The trip to Stockholm was
to be unforgettable. His wife Magda writes:
Although it was the darkest time of the year, Stockholm was brightly lit on the day of the
ceremony. The Nobel Prizes were presented by [. . .] King Gustav VI. Adolf [. . .] in a
thoroughly festive ceremony. Hermann Staudinger received the 1953 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry from him. It was a memorable picture: both men were the same height and
roughly the same age. This picture was published throughout the chemical press all over the
world, with the caption: “High Polymers bring High Honours”. [40, p. 24]
To understand the satisfaction that Staudinger must have felt in Stockholm, it is
only necessary to remember what difficult decades were behind him: gruelling
scientific disputes in the 1920s (see Sect. 2: “1920–1932”) were followed by
tortuous political manoeuvring during the Nazi period (see Sect. 3:
“1933–1945”). In 1940, Staudinger succeeded in adding a research department
for macromolecular chemistry to the university chemical laboratory. “The first
European research centre that focussed exclusively on research into macromolecules in nature and industry as well as on the new area of polymer science
research” is the description given in a current profile issued by Freiburg University
(http://www.uni-freiburg.de/universitaet/portrait/ehrungen-und-preise/Nobelpreis/
broschuere-nobelpreistra ¨ger-uni-freiburg.pdf). Work was hampered by the war to
an increasing extent; however, it continued until the chemical institute (including
the library, collections and equipment) was, finally, destroyed almost entirely in a
bomb attack on Freiburg on 27 November 1944. “Thanks to the immediate action
taken by assistants and students, the few remaining parts were saved and were
installed again in some cases after the end of the war. It was therefore possible to
start teaching and research again to a modest extent as of 1947.” ([40], p. 22)
Staudinger was already 66 years old in 1947 and the best of his scientific career
was long behind him. He was, however, indefatigable in contributing to the
laborious reconstruction process, devoting himself in particular to the research
department for macromolecular chemistry that he had established, into which he
put all his energy – demonstrating both persistence and obstinacy: “Staudinger did
not establish an interdisciplinary teaching and research programme; no-one except
he held lectures about macromolecular chemistry in Freiburg” [19, p. 150]. Staudinger finally retired in the spring of 1951 at the age of almost 70, but he did not sit
back and take things easy afterwards. On the instruction of the Baden State
President, Leo Wohleb (1888–1955, editor’s note), the research department for
macromolecular chemistry had just been converted into a government research
institute and Staudinger was quick to accept the invitation to head it for the next
5 years. This was to be in an honorary capacity, of course, while the financial
support provided to the institute also left a great deal to be desired: “In spite of its
impressive name, this research facility was rather modest”, concluded Magda
128
M. Weber and G. Deussing
the German government, the German Minister of the Interior, Dr Gerhard Schro ¨der
(CDU), congratulated him on 5 November and the German Chancellor Dr Konrad
Adenauer (CDU) followed on 10 November.
Staudinger had to wait until 10 December for the official presentation of the
Nobel Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The trip to Stockholm was
to be unforgettable. His wife Magda writes:
Although it was the darkest time of the year, Stockholm was brightly lit on the day of the
ceremony. The Nobel Prizes were presented by [. . .] King Gustav VI. Adolf [. . .] in a
thoroughly festive ceremony. Hermann Staudinger received the 1953 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry from him. It was a memorable picture: both men were the same height and
roughly the same age. This picture was published throughout the chemical press all over the
world, with the caption: “High Polymers bring High Honours”. [40, p. 24]
To understand the satisfaction that Staudinger must have felt in Stockholm, it is
only necessary to remember what difficult decades were behind him: gruelling
scientific disputes in the 1920s (see Sect. 2: “1920–1932”) were followed by
tortuous political manoeuvring during the Nazi period (see Sect. 3:
“1933–1945”). In 1940, Staudinger succeeded in adding a research department
for macromolecular chemistry to the university chemical laboratory. “The first
European research centre that focussed exclusively on research into macromolecules in nature and industry as well as on the new area of polymer science
research” is the description given in a current profile issued by Freiburg University
(http://www.uni-freiburg.de/universitaet/portrait/ehrungen-und-preise/Nobelpreis/
broschuere-nobelpreistra ¨ger-uni-freiburg.pdf). Work was hampered by the war to
an increasing extent; however, it continued until the chemical institute (including
the library, collections and equipment) was, finally, destroyed almost entirely in a
bomb attack on Freiburg on 27 November 1944. “Thanks to the immediate action
taken by assistants and students, the few remaining parts were saved and were
installed again in some cases after the end of the war. It was therefore possible to
start teaching and research again to a modest extent as of 1947.” ([40], p. 22)
Staudinger was already 66 years old in 1947 and the best of his scientific career
was long behind him. He was, however, indefatigable in contributing to the
laborious reconstruction process, devoting himself in particular to the research
department for macromolecular chemistry that he had established, into which he
put all his energy – demonstrating both persistence and obstinacy: “Staudinger did
not establish an interdisciplinary teaching and research programme; no-one except
he held lectures about macromolecular chemistry in Freiburg” [19, p. 150]. Staudinger finally retired in the spring of 1951 at the age of almost 70, but he did not sit
back and take things easy afterwards. On the instruction of the Baden State
President, Leo Wohleb (1888–1955, editor’s note), the research department for
macromolecular chemistry had just been converted into a government research
institute and Staudinger was quick to accept the invitation to head it for the next
5 years. This was to be in an honorary capacity, of course, while the financial
support provided to the institute also left a great deal to be desired: “In spite of its
impressive name, this research facility was rather modest”, concluded Magda
128
M. Weber and G. Deussing