Dear DMG Members,
In spring 2024, I published an article in GMIT (GMIT 95, p. 49, https://doi.org/10.23689/fidgeo-5995) examining the extent to which science and scientists are affected by the rise of anti-democratic parties and political systems. I also raised the question of the role that the German Mineralogical Society (DMG) and its leading members may have played during the National Socialist era. While the DMG has never systematically examined its own history during the first half of the twentieth century, it continues to honor honorary members from that period without critical review and even awards scientific prizes named after some of them. At their meeting in Bad Honnef in February 2024, the Executive Board and Advisory Board unanimously agreed that the Society's history should be professionally investigated by independent historians using objective scholarly standards.
Throughout 2024, Frank Schilling, Horst Marschall, and Klaus-Dieter Grevel, in varying constellations, consulted several historians from Berlin and Karlsruhe to explore how such an investigation should be conducted. Two conclusions emerged very quickly. First, the project should be carried out entirely independently by an external institution. The DMG should define only the time period and scope of the study, while having no influence on the research itself. Second, substantial financial resources would be required—at least equivalent to funding a full-time researcher for one to two years. Historians typically undertake projects of this kind as fixed-term research appointments at universities funded through external grants, while others work independently and conduct such studies on a contract basis.
The question of funding was discussed by the Executive Board, Advisory Board, and General Assembly in Dublin. Possible approaches included crowdfunding through a public donation campaign, applications to foundations, and the possibility of submitting a research proposal to the German Research Foundation (DFG). At the same time, the Executive Board established close contact with historians from Berlin, particularly at the Museum für Naturkunde (MfN) and Humboldt University (HU). These colleagues expressed strong interest not only in the broader role of science during National Socialism but also specifically in mineralogy and its practitioners. An important connection is that Paul Ramdohr, DMG President from 1934 to 1950, Professor of Mineralogy and Geology at the former Friedrich Wilhelm University (today Humboldt University), and Director of its Institute of Mineralogy, was also associated with one of the predecessor institutions of the Museum für Naturkunde. Following the publication of the GMIT article, Dr. Angela Strauß (Museum für Naturkunde) contacted us to express her interest in supporting the critical examination of the DMG's history during the Third Reich. Throughout 2024 and 2025, several in-person and virtual meetings took place between Angela Strauß, members of the DMG Executive Board, and other historians.
In early September 2025, Angela Strauß, together with Professor Martin Lutz (University of Bielefeld) and Dr. Vivian Yurdakul (University of Stuttgart), organized a two-day workshop at the University of Bielefeld entitled Mineralogy and Power. Participants included members of the DMG Executive Board, the organizers, and around a dozen historians. The workshop examined the role of mineralogists and mineralogy in National Socialist Germany. It explored biographies and professional networks from approximately 1914 to 1950, considered the political conditions under which research was conducted, and reflected on scientific activities within the context of expansionist policies and the wartime economy. Discussions focused on how the political agenda of the regime influenced mineralogical research and practice, both directly and indirectly, and on the scientific, economic, and ethical consequences of these influences for science and society.
Klaus-Dieter Grevel opened the meeting by presenting the DMG and its planned project and thanking the participating historians for their commitment and interest. This was followed by a series of presentations integrated into well-structured discussions addressing topics such as raw material exploration, applied mineralogy (for example, quartz synthesis), and the role of government agencies, research institutions, and university institutes within a totalitarian state. The participating mineralogists—Marschall, Grevel, and Schilling in particular—gained valuable insight into historical research methods, the challenges of interpreting incomplete archival sources, and the complexity of assessing individual responsibility. As became clear, historical actors rarely fall into simple categories but instead occupy positions along a spectrum ranging from passive followers and opportunists to active participants with varying degrees of responsibility.
Professor Emeritus Rüdiger Hachtmann (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam) also highlighted the substantial redistribution of resources that occurred under National Socialism. Rather than uniformly suppressing science, the regime significantly strengthened certain disciplines and research institutions. Resources shifted away from the humanities and cultural sciences toward engineering and the natural sciences, from universities toward technical universities and non-university research institutions, and toward industrial research. Because of its strategic importance for the wartime economy, mineralogy benefited from this development and received stronger support than ever before.
Discussions on topics such as political control of universities under a totalitarian regime, the role of raw material availability in military planning, and the pursuit of economic self-sufficiency through tariffs and subsidies inevitably resonated with present-day global developments. Participants found it difficult to avoid asking themselves uncomfortable questions such as, How would I have acted? or Would I also have supported and applied for such research projects? The Executive Board reported on the workshop to the DMG General Assembly in Göttingen. Written versions of the presentations are expected to be published shortly and made available on the DMG website.
During the summer of 2025, the DMG also employed Stephan Grevel, a student of history and philosophy at the University of Cologne, as an intern. He prepared the call for proposals for a preliminary historical study, conducted initial surveys of archival collections, and compiled a bibliography of relevant journals and primary sources. He was generously supported in this work by Rüdiger Hachtmann and Angela Strauß.
The Executive Board and Advisory Board approved a budget of €60,000 for the project Examining the National Socialist Past of the DMG. Part of these funds has already supported the workshop in Bielefeld and financed the internship. The larger share will now be used to fund a preliminary study whose purpose is to prepare and submit a full research proposal for the main project over the coming months. This project will investigate the institutional entanglement of mineralogy as a scientific discipline with Germany's scientific, economic, and political landscape during the first half of the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on the National Socialist period. What roles did individual mineralogists and the DMG play? How did mineralogical science contribute to the pursuit of economic self-sufficiency, the exploitation of natural resources, the conduct of the Second World War, and the crimes committed under National Socialism?
By the time this issue of GMIT appears, the application deadline for the contract position will have passed, and we expect to have selected an outstanding candidate to move this important project forward with professionalism and determination.
I will continue to keep you informed.
Yours sincerely,
Horst Marschall
