Prof. Dr. Hans Georg von Schnering passed away last week from a severe illness. He served for a long time as a member of the Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie (ZAAC) International Advisory Board. Between 1960 and 2009 he published 166 articles in ZAAC and 93 articles in Angewandte Chemie.

Hans Georg von Schnering was born on July 6, 1931 in Ranis, Thuringia, Germany. He studied Chemistry at the University of Münster and obtained his PhD under the supervision of Rudolf Hoppe in 1960 (title of the thesis: “Über Oxo- und Thiozincate und -cadmate”). He received his venia legendi from the University of Münster in 1964 (thesis: “Beiträge zur Chemie binärer und ternärer Halogeno- und Oxoverbindungen der Metalle”) and he stayed in Münster until 1975 when he joined the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. He later became the dean of the institute.

As a member of the Max Planck Institute, his research focused on cluster compounds and their structures. He investigated valence electronic densities and dynamics of molecules in crystals leading to the determination of disordered and superstructures. He also performed evaluations of Periodic Nodal Surfaces (PNS) for crystallographic symmetry groups with respect to a generalization of the topological pattern of crystalline matter.

His awards include the Alfred-Stock-Gedächtnispreis by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) and honorary doctorates of the Universities of Geneva, Würzburg and Karlsruhe.