German Atomic Bomb Program

Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (1912-2007) was a German theoretical physicist, and later philosopher, who worked on Nazi Germany’s atomic bomb program.  EARLY YEARS Born into German nobility in 1912, Weizsäcker studied physics, astronomy, and math at various German institutions between 1929 and 1933, including the University of Göttingen and Leipzig University. He received his Ph.D. in physics […]

Kurt Diebner (1905-1964) was a German nuclear physicist and the administrative director of the secret Nazi German nuclear weapons program.  EARLY YEARS Diebner was born on May 13, 1905 in Obernessa, Weißenfels in the German Empire. He studied physics at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg and graduated with a B.S. in 1928. Continuing his academic studies, in 1930 […]

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) was a German theoretical physicist and 1932 Nobel Prize winner. Heisenberg was a main contributor to the German atomic program during World War II, in direct competition with the Manhattan Project. In 1941, he visited Niels Bohr in Copenhagen to discuss nuclear research. Nazi architect Albert Speer consulted Heisenberg about the possibility […]

Walther Bothe (1891-1957) was a German nuclear physicist who constructed Germany’s first cyclotron and received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Max Born.     EARLY YEARS Bothe was born in Oranienburg, Germany in 1891. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1908-1912. In 1913 he began research under Max Planck in […]