Georg Hans Madelung

Georg Hans Madelung (31 July 1889 in Rostock – 17 August 1972 in Uffing) was a German academic and aeronautical engineer. Madelung studied at several German Technical Universities before his service as a pilot in the First World War. After the war he lectured and worked in Germany and the United States, working on a number of significant aeronautical achievements. Madelung joined the Nazi Party in 1937, and during the Second World War was involved with aeronautical warfare research, including work with Wernher von Braun's rocket program. After the cessation of hostilities, Madelung resumed academic work in both Germany and the USA. Madelung's research at the Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland included the effects of high acceleration on the human body. He permanently returned to live in Germany from 1954 until his death in 1972. The second son of his marriage to Elisabeth Emma née Messerschmitt was Wilferd Madelung, a noted scholar in Islamic studies. Early life Madelung's father was Otto Wilhelm Madelung, a surgeon and medical researcher, and his mother was Hedwig Madelung, née Köhler. Education From 1895 to 1907 Madelung was schooled at a Protestant gymnasium in Strasbourg. He volunteered for military service in 1907. Madelung studied at the University of Strasbourg (1907–1908), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (1908–1909), Leibniz University Hannover (1909–1910), and the Technical University of Berlin from 1910 to 1919. He was belatedly awarded a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the Technical University of Berlin in 1919, and was admitted as Doctor of Engineering of Leibniz University Hannover in 1921. WWI service Madelung was trained as a pilot and may have flown some combat missions in the First World War. He was involved with fellow engineer Fritz Haber's deployment of poison gas. In 1915 Madelung was retained as an assistant at the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt"—acronym DVL—the "German Aviation Laboratory".