Street, City, Country

Hittorfstraße 24/Faradayweg 8, Berlin, Germany

Who was there?

The couple Clara Immerwahr (1870–1915) and Fritz Haber (1868–1934)

 

When did they live there?

Clara Immerwahr 1912–1915

Fritz Haber 1912–1933

 

What is it today?

Seminar rooms and apartments for the staff of the Fritz Haber Institute

 

Original building?

Yes

 

Architect?

Ernst Eberhard von Ihne (1848–1917)

Among his best-known works are the Prussian Royal Library building (now House 1 of the Berlin State Library), the Neuer Marstall on Schloßplatz in Berlin, and the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (now the Bode Museum) in Berlin, Germany.

 

Brief history of the persons and the house

The house served as the official residence of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. Fritz Haber, the founding director, lived here with his family until his emigration in the fall of 1933. Despite his significant contributions to Germany, including his development of the Haber-Bosch process and his involvement in chemical warfare during World War I, the Nazis dismissed him from his position as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry because of his Jewish heritage.

Initially, he resided in the house with his first wife, Clara Immerwahr, and their son, Hermann. Clara, one of Germany’s first women to earn a doctorate in chemistry, was not allowed to continue her scientific work after the birth of their child. In 1915, she likely died by suicide, possibly due to depression or her opposition to Fritz Haber’s involvement the first use of chemical weapons at Ypres, Belgium during World War I.

Fritz Haber soon thereafter married Charlotte Nathan (1889–1976), with whom he had twins, Eva and Ludwig. The marriage ended in divorce after a few years.

In 1914, Albert Einstein (1879–1955)  is said to have worked in the villa as a scientific guest of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. [2]

In memory of Clara Immerwahr, an informational monument was unveiled on November 11, 2024, in front of the house. This memorial highlights Clara Immerwahr’s achievements as the first German woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry and her commitment to equality of opportunity and gender justice [3].

 

What are Clara Immerwahr and Fritze Haber known for?

Clara Immerwahr was one of the first women in Germany to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Fritz Haber developed the process for synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen, a breakthrough that enabled the large-scale production of fertilizers and is credited with supporting global agricultural productivity. This work earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Haber also developed and promoted the use of poison gas as a weapon during World War I. He led the first large-scale chlorine gas attack at Ypres, Belgium, in 1915.

Beyond ammonia synthesis, his research laid foundations for physical chemistry, particularly in reaction kinetics and thermodynamics.

 

References/Sources

[1] Vera Koester, Great Architecture and Chemists in Dahlem, ChemistryViews 2018.

[2] Eckart Henning, Marion Kazemi, Dahlem – Domäne derWissenschaft; Ein Spaziergang zu den Berliner Instituten der Kaiser-Wilhelm-/Max-Planck-Gesellschaft im „deutschen Oxford“, 4th ed., Archiv der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, 2009, page 89ff. ISBN: 978-3-927579-16-5 (accessed November 27, 2024)

[3] Würdigung einer Wissenschaftspionierin – Enthüllung der Informationsstele „Clara Immerwahr“, Pressemitteilung Bezirksamt Steglitz-Zehlendorf, 14.11.2024. (accessed November 15, 2024)

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