Physicists in the Krieg der Geister: Wilhelm Wien's Proclamation

Abstract

After the outbreak of World War II prominent representatives of science and culture of all countries applied their reputation for the credibility of war propaganda in a series of proclamations and counter-proclamations. This was called the Krieg der Geister. Nobel-prize winner Wilhelm wien composed a proclamation (Aufforderung) which was directed to German-speaking physicists unlike other proclamations that were directed at people in other countries. Facing the hostile behavior of well-known english colleagues, Wien intended to restrain the English influence on German physics. He demanded that German papers contain more German than English citations, for example. The controversial discussions on this matter made an ideological gap visible within the community of German-speaking physicists for the first time. It was an antagonism between Berlin and the rest of the empire mainly, based on different political views with the more liberal tendency in Berlin. Another aspect was the organisational dominance of the Berliner in the national physics society which was increasingly questioned. There was a continuity of these conflicts in the postwar era. It became obvious in organizational matters concerning the journals of the society for example, as well as in physics itself which can be seen in the dispute on the theory of relativity. This episode of the physicists in the Krieg der Geister has importance not only in the context of World War I, but also for the understanding of the further development of German physics.