1936
Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago, USA
1936–1945
Full Professor and Director of the Chemical Institute of the University of Halle
an der Saale
01.10.1943
Director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fu ¨r Kohlenforschung in Mu ¨lheim
an der Ruhr as successor to Franz Fischer
20.09.1946
Cofounder of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, Society of
German Chemists) in the British zone of the divided Germany and
Chairman until 1949
15.08.1949
Honorary Professor at the Rheinisch-Westfa ¨lischen Technischen Hochschule
Aachen
1949–1951
President of the GDCh after the amalgamation of the regional branches in
Frankfurt am Main on the 20.09.1949
1952
Visiting Professor at the Universities of Madison and Urbana, USA
1954–1957
Chairman of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fu ¨r Mineralo ¨lwissenschaft und
Kohlechemie (DGMK, German Society for Mineral Oil Science and Coal
Chemistry)
1955–1957
Chairman of the Chemical-Physical-Technical-Section and Senator of the Max
Planck Society
09.07.1969
Retirement and appointment of Gu ¨nther Wilke as his successor
1970–1971
President of the Rheinisch-Westfa ¨lische Akademie der Wissenschaften
(Academy of Science) in Du ¨sseldorf
11.08.1973
Karl Ziegler dies in his 74th year in Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr and is buried in the
main cemetery
An overall list of the honours that Ziegler received includes honorary
doctorates from the Technical University of Hannover (1951), the University of
Gießen (1958), the University of Heidelberg (1958), and the Technical University
of Darmstadt (1968). Ziegler was elected Honorary Senator of the Max-PlanckGesellschaft (Max Planck Society) in 1968 and in 1964 he was awarded the Große
Verdienstkreuz with star and shoulder band of the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 1969 he was elected to the Order Pour le Me ´rite in the arts and sciences as
the direct successor to Otto Hahn. In 1946 he was cofounder of the GDCh and
until 1951 acted as its first President. In 1963, the town of Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr
awarded him the freedom of the city and in 1974 the local high school was
renamed after him. Karl Ziegler was Director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fu ¨r
Kohlenforschung and (after 1949) of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft from 1943
to 1969. The income from his patents ensured the financial independence of the
Institute for over 40 years and enabled an unprecedented expansion. The creation of
the Ziegler Fund in 1968 and the Ziegler Foundation in 1970 ensured the continued
financial support of the Institute and these still make a substantial contribution
to the annual budget. Together with his wife Maria, he thanked the town
of Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr with the gift of their valuable collection of twentieth
century art (Stiftung Sammlung Ziegler im Kunstmuseum Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr;
see Fig. 2), while the generosity of their daughter Dr. Marianne Witte (who passed
away in June 2012) enables the GDCh to award a Karl-Ziegler-Preis and a
Karl-Ziegler-Fo¨rderpreis [1].
4
G. Fink
Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago, USA
1936–1945
Full Professor and Director of the Chemical Institute of the University of Halle
an der Saale
01.10.1943
Director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fu ¨r Kohlenforschung in Mu ¨lheim
an der Ruhr as successor to Franz Fischer
20.09.1946
Cofounder of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, Society of
German Chemists) in the British zone of the divided Germany and
Chairman until 1949
15.08.1949
Honorary Professor at the Rheinisch-Westfa ¨lischen Technischen Hochschule
Aachen
1949–1951
President of the GDCh after the amalgamation of the regional branches in
Frankfurt am Main on the 20.09.1949
1952
Visiting Professor at the Universities of Madison and Urbana, USA
1954–1957
Chairman of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fu ¨r Mineralo ¨lwissenschaft und
Kohlechemie (DGMK, German Society for Mineral Oil Science and Coal
Chemistry)
1955–1957
Chairman of the Chemical-Physical-Technical-Section and Senator of the Max
Planck Society
09.07.1969
Retirement and appointment of Gu ¨nther Wilke as his successor
1970–1971
President of the Rheinisch-Westfa ¨lische Akademie der Wissenschaften
(Academy of Science) in Du ¨sseldorf
11.08.1973
Karl Ziegler dies in his 74th year in Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr and is buried in the
main cemetery
An overall list of the honours that Ziegler received includes honorary
doctorates from the Technical University of Hannover (1951), the University of
Gießen (1958), the University of Heidelberg (1958), and the Technical University
of Darmstadt (1968). Ziegler was elected Honorary Senator of the Max-PlanckGesellschaft (Max Planck Society) in 1968 and in 1964 he was awarded the Große
Verdienstkreuz with star and shoulder band of the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 1969 he was elected to the Order Pour le Me ´rite in the arts and sciences as
the direct successor to Otto Hahn. In 1946 he was cofounder of the GDCh and
until 1951 acted as its first President. In 1963, the town of Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr
awarded him the freedom of the city and in 1974 the local high school was
renamed after him. Karl Ziegler was Director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut fu ¨r
Kohlenforschung and (after 1949) of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft from 1943
to 1969. The income from his patents ensured the financial independence of the
Institute for over 40 years and enabled an unprecedented expansion. The creation of
the Ziegler Fund in 1968 and the Ziegler Foundation in 1970 ensured the continued
financial support of the Institute and these still make a substantial contribution
to the annual budget. Together with his wife Maria, he thanked the town
of Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr with the gift of their valuable collection of twentieth
century art (Stiftung Sammlung Ziegler im Kunstmuseum Mu ¨lheim an der Ruhr;
see Fig. 2), while the generosity of their daughter Dr. Marianne Witte (who passed
away in June 2012) enables the GDCh to award a Karl-Ziegler-Preis and a
Karl-Ziegler-Fo¨rderpreis [1].
4
G. Fink