Josef Schintlmeister
Encyclopedia
Josef Schintlmeister was an Austria
n-German nuclear physicist and alpinist from Radstadt
. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club. After World War II, he was sent Russia to work on the Soviet atomic bomb project. After he returned to Vienna, he took positions in East Germany. He was a professor of physics at the Technische Hochschule Dresden as well holding a leading scientific position at the Rossendorf Central Institute for Nuclear Research.
for Experimental Physics), worked at the II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität, Wien (Second Physics Institute of the University of Vienna
), where Georg Stetter
was the director. One of his colleagues there was Willibald Jentschke
. The Institute did research on transuranic elements and measurement of nuclear constants, in collaboration with the Institut für Radiumforschung (Institute for Radium Research
) of the Österreichischen Adademie der Wissenschaften (Austrian Academy of Sciences). This work was done under the German nuclear energy project
, also known as the Uranverein (Uranium Club); see, for example, the publications cited below under Internal Reports.
In work completed in June 1940 and published in 1941, Schintlmeister had followed a line of reasoning similar to that of Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
and Fritz Houtermans
and had predicted the existence of the 94th element, plutonium
. In two papers published in May 1941, Schintlmeister spelled out the implications of the 94th element in that it could be generated in a Uranmaschine (uranium machine, i.e., a nuclear reactor) and that it would be fissionable
.
sent special search teams into Germany to locate and deport German nuclear scientists or any others who could be of use to the Soviet atomic bomb project
. The Russian Alsos
teams were headed by NKVD
Colonel General A. P. Zavenyagin and staffed with numerous scientists, from their only nuclear laboratory, attired in NKVD officer’s uniforms. The main search team, headed by Colonel General Zavenyagin, arrived in Berlin on 3 May, the day after Russia announced the fall of Berlin to their military forces; it included Colonel General V. A. Makhnjov, and nuclear physicists Yulij Borisovich Khariton
, Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin
, and Lev Andreevich Artsimovich
.
Scientists who were sent to the Soviet Union were assigned to facilities under authority of the NKVD’s 9th Chief Directorate, headed by Zavenyagin. The facilities were principally the following: Laboratory 2 (Moscow), Scientific Research Institute No. 9 (Moscow), Elektrostal’
Plant No. 12, Institutes A (Sinop, a suburb of Sukhumi
) and G (Agudzery), Laboratory B
(Sungul’), and Laboratory V (Obninsk
).
Schintlmeister was assigned to Laboratory 2, later known as the Laboratory for Measuring Instruments (LIPAN), and then the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy
, and today known as the Russian Scientific Center “Kurchatov Institute”, in Moscow.
). Additionally, he was a leading scientist at the Zentralinstitut für Kernforschung Rossendorf (ZfK, Central Institute for Nuclear Research Rossendorf, today Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf) near Dresden. Other notable German scientists, who worked on the Soviet atomic bomb project and joined Schintlmeister at the Technische Hochschule Dresden were the physicists Heinz Barwich
and Werner Hartmann
from Institute G in Agudzery and Heinz Pose
and Ernst Rexer
from Laboratory V in Obninsk.
On Schintlmeister’s return to Vienna, he was invited to the British embassy, where a Scientific and Technical Intelligence Branch (STIB) officer asked him about his time in the Soviet Union. Schintlmeister declined the request. Once, visiting Austria after he had taken the positions in Dresden, British officials offered him the choice of either defecting or becoming a source in the Bloc, preferably the Soviet Union. STIB archives confirms that Schintlmeister was a target of British MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service
.
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), an internal publication of the German Uranverein
. The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied Operation Alsos
and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the American Institute of Physics
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-German nuclear physicist and alpinist from Radstadt
Radstadt
Radstadt is a historic town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is located at the confluence of the Taurach stream and the Enns river, at the foot of Roßbrand mountain, part of the Salzburg Slate Alps.-History:...
. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club. After World War II, he was sent Russia to work on the Soviet atomic bomb project. After he returned to Vienna, he took positions in East Germany. He was a professor of physics at the Technische Hochschule Dresden as well holding a leading scientific position at the Rossendorf Central Institute for Nuclear Research.
Early career
During World War II, Schintlmeister, Dozent für Experimentalphysik (DocentDocent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
for Experimental Physics), worked at the II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität, Wien (Second Physics Institute of the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
), where Georg Stetter
Georg Stetter
Georg Stetter was an Austrian-German nuclear physicist. Stetter was Director of the Second Physics Institute of the University of Vienna. He was a principal member of the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club. In the latter years of World War II, he was also the Director...
was the director. One of his colleagues there was Willibald Jentschke
Willibald Jentschke
Willibald Jentschke was an Austrian-German experimental nuclear physicist. During World War II, he made contributions to the German nuclear energy project. After World War II, he emigrated to the United States to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Ohio, for the Air Force Materiel Command...
. The Institute did research on transuranic elements and measurement of nuclear constants, in collaboration with the Institut für Radiumforschung (Institute for Radium Research
Institute for Radium Research, Vienna
The Institute for Radium Research was an Austrian research institute associated with the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. The Institute's researchers won multiple Nobel Prizes...
) of the Österreichischen Adademie der Wissenschaften (Austrian Academy of Sciences). This work was done under the German nuclear energy project
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
, also known as the Uranverein (Uranium Club); see, for example, the publications cited below under Internal Reports.
In work completed in June 1940 and published in 1941, Schintlmeister had followed a line of reasoning similar to that of Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
and Fritz Houtermans
Fritz Houtermans
Friedrich Georg "Fritz" Houtermans was a Dutch-Austrian-German atomic and nuclear physicist born in Zoppot near Danzig, West Prussia...
and had predicted the existence of the 94th element, plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
. In two papers published in May 1941, Schintlmeister spelled out the implications of the 94th element in that it could be generated in a Uranmaschine (uranium machine, i.e., a nuclear reactor) and that it would be fissionable
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
.
In Russia
Near the close of World War II, the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
sent special search teams into Germany to locate and deport German nuclear scientists or any others who could be of use to the Soviet atomic bomb project
Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb , was a clandestine research and development program began during and post-World War II, in the wake of the Soviet Union's discovery of the United States' nuclear project...
. The Russian Alsos
Russian Alsos
The Russian Alsos was an operation which took place in early 1945 in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, and whose objectives were the exploitation of German atomic related facilities, intellectual materials, materiel resources, and scientific personnel for the benefit of the Soviet atomic bomb...
teams were headed by NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
Colonel General A. P. Zavenyagin and staffed with numerous scientists, from their only nuclear laboratory, attired in NKVD officer’s uniforms. The main search team, headed by Colonel General Zavenyagin, arrived in Berlin on 3 May, the day after Russia announced the fall of Berlin to their military forces; it included Colonel General V. A. Makhnjov, and nuclear physicists Yulij Borisovich Khariton
Yulii Borisovich Khariton
Yulii Borisovich Khariton was a Soviet physicist working in the field of nuclear power...
, Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin
Isaak Kikoin
Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin was a Soviet physicist and academic. He was awarded the Stalin/Lenin Prize six times , named a Hero of Socialist Labor , and was a recipient of the Kurchatov Medal .Kikoin was with Igor Kurchatov as one of the founders of the Kurchatov...
, and Lev Andreevich Artsimovich
Lev Artsimovich
Lev Andreevich Artsimovich was a Soviet physicist, academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , member of the Presidium of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , and Hero of Socialist Labor .- Academic research :Artsimovich worked on the...
.
Scientists who were sent to the Soviet Union were assigned to facilities under authority of the NKVD’s 9th Chief Directorate, headed by Zavenyagin. The facilities were principally the following: Laboratory 2 (Moscow), Scientific Research Institute No. 9 (Moscow), Elektrostal’
Elektrostal
Elektrostal , known as Zatishye until 1938, is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of Moscow. Population: 135,000 ; 123,000 ; 97,000 ; 43,000 . Town status was granted to it in 1938.-Industry:...
Plant No. 12, Institutes A (Sinop, a suburb of Sukhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...
) and G (Agudzery), Laboratory B
Laboratory B in Sungul’
Laboratory B in Sungul’ was one of the laboratories under the 9th Chief Directorate of the NKVD that contributed to the Soviet atomic bomb project. It was created in 1946 and closed in 1955, when some of its personnel were merged with the second Soviet nuclear design and assembly facility. It was...
(Sungul’), and Laboratory V (Obninsk
Obninsk
Obninsk is a city in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: Obninsk is one of the major Russian science cities. The first nuclear power plant in the world for the large-scale production of electricity opened here on June 27, 1954, and it also doubled as a training...
).
Schintlmeister was assigned to Laboratory 2, later known as the Laboratory for Measuring Instruments (LIPAN), and then the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy
Kurchatov Institute
The Kurchatov Institute is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear energy. In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy , abbreviated KIAE . It is named after Igor Kurchatov....
, and today known as the Russian Scientific Center “Kurchatov Institute”, in Moscow.
Return to Austria
In preparation for release from the Soviet Union, it was standard practice to put personnel into quarantine for a few years if they worked on projects related to the Soviet atomic bomb project, which Schintlmeister did. After quarantine, he was sent to Vienna in 1955. Soon thereafter, he took positions in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR, German Democratic Republic). He was appointed professor of nuclear physics at the Technische Hochschule Dresden (today, Technische Universität DresdenDresden University of Technology
The Technische Universität Dresden is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony and one of the 10 largest universities in Germany with 36,066 students...
). Additionally, he was a leading scientist at the Zentralinstitut für Kernforschung Rossendorf (ZfK, Central Institute for Nuclear Research Rossendorf, today Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf) near Dresden. Other notable German scientists, who worked on the Soviet atomic bomb project and joined Schintlmeister at the Technische Hochschule Dresden were the physicists Heinz Barwich
Heinz Barwich
Heinz Barwich was a German nuclear physicist. He was deputy director of the Siemens Research Laboratory II in Berlin. At the close of World War II, he went to the Soviet Union for ten years to work on the Soviet atomic bomb project, for which he received a Stalin Prize...
and Werner Hartmann
Werner Hartmann (physicist)
Werner Hartmann was a German physicist who introduced microelectronics into East Germany. He studied physics at the Technische Hochschule Berlin and worked at Siemens before joining Fernseh GmbH...
from Institute G in Agudzery and Heinz Pose
Heinz Pose
Rudolf Heinz Pose was a German nuclear physicist.He did pioneering work which contributed to the understanding nuclear energy levels. He worked on the German nuclear energy project Uranverein. After World War II, the Soviet Union sent him to establish and head Laboratory V in Obninsk...
and Ernst Rexer
Ernst Rexer
Ernst Rexer was a German nuclear physicist. He worked on the German nuclear energy program during World War II. After the war, he was sent to Laboratory V, in Obninsk, to work on the Soviet atomic bomb project...
from Laboratory V in Obninsk.
On Schintlmeister’s return to Vienna, he was invited to the British embassy, where a Scientific and Technical Intelligence Branch (STIB) officer asked him about his time in the Soviet Union. Schintlmeister declined the request. Once, visiting Austria after he had taken the positions in Dresden, British officials offered him the choice of either defecting or becoming a source in the Bloc, preferably the Soviet Union. STIB archives confirms that Schintlmeister was a target of British MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
.
Internal reports
The following reports were published in Kernphysikalische ForschungsberichteKernphysikalische Forschungsberichte
Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte was an internal publication of the German Uranverein, which was initiated under the Heereswaffenamt in 1939; in 1942, supervision of the Uranverein was turned over to the Reichsforschungsrat under the Reichserziehungsministerium...
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), an internal publication of the German Uranverein
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
. The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos was an effort at the end of World War II by the Allies , branched off from the Manhattan Project, to investigate the German nuclear energy project, seize German nuclear resources, materials and personnel to further American research and to prevent their capture by the Soviets, and...
and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the American Institute of Physics
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...
.
- Josef Schintlmeister and F. Hernegger Über ein bisher unbekanntes, alpha-strahlendes chemisches Element G-55 (10 December 1940)
- Josef Schintlmeister Die Stellung des Elementes mit Alphastrahlen von 1,8 cm Reichweite im periodischen System. III Bericht G-111 (23 May 1941)
- Josef Schintlmeister and F. Hernegger Weitere chemische Unterscuchungen an dem Element mit Alphastrahlen von 1,8 cm Reichweite. II Bericht G-112 (May 1941)
- Josef Schintlmeister Die Aussichten für eine Energieerzeugung durch Kernspaltung des 1,8 cm Alphastrahlers G-186 (26 February 1942)
Selected literature
- Gustav Ortner and Josef Schintlmeister Zur Radioaktivität von Samarium, Zeitschrift für Physik Issue Volume 90, Numbers 9–10, 698–699 (1934). Institutional citations: Ortner – Institut für Radiumforschung and Schintlmeister – II. Physikalisches Institut der Universität, Wien. Received on 12 July 1934.
- R. Nathe, J. Schintlmeister, H. Seidenfaden, and R. Weibrecht The focusing of beta particles in a short-lens spectrometer [In German], Exptl. Tech. Physik Volume 9: Numer 1, 1–12 (1961). Institutional citation: Research Org Amt fur Kernforschung und Kerntechnik der DDR.
- J. Mösner, G. Schmidt and J. Schintlmeister Four-particle disintegration of nitrogen by fast neutrons. Institutional citation: Zentralinstitut für Kernforschung, Bereich “Kernphysik”, Rossendorf bei, Dresden, DDR. Received 12 June 1967.
- Günter Schmidt, Jürgen Mösner and Josef Schintlmeister† A study of the reaction 14N(n, 2)7Li. Institutional citation: Zentralinstitut für Kernforschung, Bereich Kernphysik, Rossendorf bei Dresden, DDR. Received 5 August 1970; revised 28 April 1971.
Books
- Josef Schintlmeister Die Elekronenröhre als physikalisches Meßgerät. Röhrenvoltmeter. Röhrengalvanometer. Röhrenelektrometer. (Springer Verlag, 1942, 1943) (Edwards Brothers, Inc., 1945)
- Jakov I. Frenkel', Josef Schintlmeister, and Fritz Bartels Prinzipien der Theorie der Atomkerne (Akademie-Verl., 1957)
- Heinz BarwichHeinz BarwichHeinz Barwich was a German nuclear physicist. He was deputy director of the Siemens Research Laboratory II in Berlin. At the close of World War II, he went to the Soviet Union for ten years to work on the Soviet atomic bomb project, for which he received a Stalin Prize...
, Josef Schintlmeister, and Fritz Thümmler Das Zentralinstitut für Kernphysik am Beginn seiner Arbeit (Akademie-Verl., 1958)
- Wunibald Kunz and Josef Schintlmeister Tabellen der Atomkerne. Teil 1: Eigenschaften der Atomkerne. Band 1: Die Elemente Neutron bis Zinn. (Akademie-Verlag, 1958)
- Wunnibald Kunz and Josef Schintlmeister Tabellen der Atomkerne. – (2 Bände) – Teil I: Eigenschaften der Atomkerne, Band 1: Die Elemente Neutron bis Zinn; Band 2: Die Elemente Antimon bis Nobelium. (Akademie-Verl., 1958)
- Wunibald Kunz and Josef Schintlmeister Nuclear Tables – In Two Volumes (Permagon Press, 1959)
- Wunibald Kunz and Josef Schintlmeister Tabellen der Atomkerne. T. 1. Eigenschaften der Atomkerne. Bd. 2. Die Elemente Antimon bis Nobelium (Akademie-Verl., 1959)
- Josef Schintlmeister (editor), Soviet authors: Boris S. Dzelepov, A. I. Bas, J. A. Smorodinskij, and German authors: Karlheinz Müller, and Mercedes Alvarez-Otto Der Isospin von Atomkernen (Akademie-Verl., 1960)
- Wunibald Kunz and Josef Schintlmeister Nuclear Tables – Part II: Nuclear Reactions – Volume 1: The Elements from Neutron to Magnesium (Permagon Press, 1965)
- Wunibald Kunz und Josef Schintlmeister Tabellen der Atomkerne. T. 2. Kernreaktionen Bd. 1. Die Elemente Neutron bis Magnesium. (Akademie-Verl., 1965)
- Wunibald Kunz and Josef Schintlmeister Tabellen der Atomkerne. T. 2. Kernreaktionen Bd. 2. Die Elemente Aluminium bis Schwefel. (Akademie-Verl., 1967)
- Wunibald Kunz and Josef Schintlmeister Tabellen der Atomkerne. Teil II: Kernraktionen. Bd. 3 Die Elemente Chlor bis Calcium. (Akademie-Verl., 1967)
- Franz Rudolf Keßler and Josef Schintlmeister Einführung in die physikalischen Grundlagen der Kernenergiegewinnung (Akademie-Verl., 1969)
- Aage Bohr, Ben R. Mottelson, Josef Schintlmeister, and Hans-Rainer Kissener Struktur der Atomkerne I. Einteilchenbewegung (Hanser Fachbuchverlag, 1980)