Günther Luxbacher Materials against substitutes Technology, metals and politics in Germany in the 20th century

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ulrich Herbert
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2018 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 399215382

Compared to other countries, highly industrialized Germany has always been one of the countries heavily dependent on foreign raw materials and material imports. During the First World War, during the period of national socialism, in the GDR, but also in the first years of the Federal Republic, it had to cope with particularly intense phases of self- sufficiency, motivated by politics. Using the example of metal as an industrial core-material, this historical study analyzes the basic conditions as well as the different economic, scientific and technical approaches to solving this problem. It explores the strategies of annexation, the saving of scarce, and the creation and use of domestic raw materials in all main sections of German policy as well as in international comparison. Numerous economists, physicists, chemists, engineers and designers oriented their research to these requirements, often funded by the German Research Foundation. Did this result in something like a national science and technology doctrine of how to create and use substitutes, which was valid throughout the 20th century? And does one have to understand this as a German Sonderweg of a constant orientation towards autarky, which still has an effect today? Or was the phenomenon confined to war and crisis, since the rich palette of different material properties is an indispensable innovation driver in international competition?

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants