Material Foundations of German History

Hans Rytger Kricheldorf was born in 1942 in Freiburg im Breisgau, where he also studied chemistry. After completing his doctorate in 1968 and his habilitation in 1974, he was appointed adjunct professor at the University of Freiburg in 1980. In 1982, he moved to a full professorship in macromolecular chemistry at the University of Hamburg, where he worked until his retirement in 2008. He has published more than 800 research articles in international scientific journals, as well as numerous books on polymer chemistry, materials science, and the history of the natural sciences.

• Amber, bronze and the first globalization of Europe.- Table salt and the founding of cities.- Silk, incense, alum and the Crusades.- Silver and the Habsburg wars of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.- Gunpowder and the emergence of Prussia.- Cellulose, Luther’s pamphlets and dynamite.- Coal, steel and Krupp cannons.- Blue jeans, tar dyes and conflicts with the USA.- Aspirin, epidemics and the rise of the pharmaceutical industry.- Population explosion, artificial fertilizer and the munitions crisis.- Chlorine and the war with poison gases.- I. G. Farben, coal liquefaction and fuel for Hitler.- Natural rubber, synthetic rubber and Auschwitz.