The “Göttingen Manifesto”
The “Göttingen Manifesto”
In 1957 an event of political and moral importance suddenly brought Göttingen into the headlines worldwide: the “Göttingen Manifesto”, published on April 12 of that year. In the mid-50's, the so-called “conversion” equipment of tactical nuclear weapons operated by US troops lead in Germany to an increasingly heated discussion about similar plans in the newly created German army (Bundeswehr) in the course of the year 1956 . The worries associated with this became stronger as the atomic secretary Franz Josef Strauß was named defense secretary. The attempt of the German nuclear physicists, affiliated in the “Work Group Nuclear Physics” of the nuclear commission, including Otto Hahn and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, to prevent the project in discussion with Strauß was considered failed, when on April 5, 1957 chancellor Konrad Adenauer trivialized tactical nuclear weapons in a press release as “especially harmless weapons”.
At the suggestion of Weizsäcker, who was also the main author of the manifesto, the “Nuclear Physics” commission of the German Physical Society released a statement signed by 18 nuclear scientists – aside from Weizsäcker, among them were the former or current residents of Göttingen Max Born, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Max von Laue and Wolfgang Paul. Due to their expert knowledge, they repudiated the trivializing depiction the German government had made and demanded the people be extensively informed about the dangers of nuclear weapons. The government was requested to forgo nuclear arms in the Bundeswehr, so as not to further endanger the German people. The signers refused any participation in the use of nuclear arms, at the same time, however, they clearly argued for the peaceful use of atomic energy.
This “Göttingen Manifesto” evoked a worldwide response as well as local reactions in Göttingen. The student union at Georgia Augusta showed solidarity with the demands of the scientists and the Göttingen chapter of the German Female Academics published a similar appeal. The local press reported in detail. Citizens and community politics, however, remained noticeably silent; neither the council nor the administrative committee commented, and there were no demonstrations or other rallies. In a similar manner to the example 120 years earlier with the protest of the “Göttingen Seven”, the city remained peculiarly untouched by a university protest which made its name famous worldwide. A reason for this silence may have been that it was a question of the agenda of federal and indeed world politics, and one wanted to avoid making reference to “communal political neutrality”, especially since the Bundestag elections were coming up. The “Göttingen Manifesto” signaled the “fight the nuclear death” movement, which grasped the entire Federal Republic of Germany the following year.
Böhme, Ernst: Zwischen Restauration und Rebellion. Die Georgia Augusta und die politische Kultur Göttingens in den fünfziger Jahren, demnächst in: Göttinger Jahrbuch 2005; Friedensinitiative Garchinger Naturwissenschaftler (Bearb.): 30 Jahre Göttinger Erklärung. Nachdenken über die Rolle des Wissenschaftlers in der Gesellschaft (Schriftenreihe Wissenschaft und Frieden 11), München 1987)
The Manifesto
The plans to arm the Bundeswehr with atomic weapons fill the signing atomic researchers with great concern. Some of them wrote to the responsible authorities in the last months. Today it is a question of public interest. The signees feel responsible to inform the public about facts that every expert may know about, but the public not enough.
1. Tactical nuclear weapons have the same destructive effect as normal atomic bombs. "Tactical" means only, that they will also be used against operating troops on the ground, not only against civilians. Every tactical atomic bomb or grenade has a similar effect as the first atomic bomb, which destroyed Hiroshima. Because tactical atomic weapons today exist in large quantities, they will have a much larger destructive potential. These bombs are only described as “small” in comparison to the "strategic" bombs, above all, the hydrogen bomb.
2. No natural limit is known for the developmental possibility of the life-destructing effect of strategic nuclear weapons. A tactical atomic bomb can destroy a small town, but an H-bomb is able to make the countryside of an area the size of the Ruhr area uninhabitable for a long time. Through the spread of radioactivity, it would probably be possible today to wipe out the entire population of Germany by using H-bombs. We know of no technical possibility to protect a large population from this danger.
We know how difficult it is to draw political consequences based on these facts. No one will allow us non-politicians to do so. Our profession is pure science and its application. Conveying our knowledge to young people make us responsible for the consequences of our profession. This is why we cannot remain silent on all political questions. We admit ourselves to the freedom, like the western world defends against communism today. We do not deny that the fear of the H-bomb contributes importantly to keeping peace in our world and protecting freedom in a part of the world. We do not believe, however, that that this method of protecting peace and freedom is reliable on a long-term basis and we consider the danger of failure to be deadly. We do not feel that we are in a position to make concrete suggestions for the politics of the world powers. For a small country like Germany, we do believe that the best way to promote world peace and to protect itself is to voluntarily do without all kinds of nuclear weapons. None of the signees would be willing to work on the production, testing of use of nuclear weapons. At the same time we emphasize that it is of utmost important to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and we would like to continue working on this task.
Fritz Bopp, Max Born, Rudolf Fleischmann, Walther Gerlach, Otto Hahn, Otto Haxel, Werner Heisenberg, Hans Kopfermann, Max v. Laue, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, Josef Mattauch, Friedrich-Adolf Paneth, Wolfgang Paul, Wolfgang Riezler, Fritz Straßmann, Wilhelm Walcher, Carl Friedrich Frhr. v. Weizsäcker, Karl Wirtz
In 1957 an event of political and moral importance suddenly brought Göttingen into the headlines worldwide: the “Göttingen Manifesto”, published on April 12 of that year. In the mid-50's, the so-called “conversion” equipment of tactical nuclear weapons operated by US troops lead in Germany to an increasingly heated discussion about similar plans in the newly created German army (Bundeswehr) in the course of the year 1956 . The worries associated with this became stronger as the atomic secretary Franz Josef Strauß was named defense secretary. The attempt of the German nuclear physicists, affiliated in the “Work Group Nuclear Physics” of the nuclear commission, including Otto Hahn and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, to prevent the project in discussion with Strauß was considered failed, when on April 5, 1957 chancellor Konrad Adenauer trivialized tactical nuclear weapons in a press release as “especially harmless weapons”.
At the suggestion of Weizsäcker, who was also the main author of the manifesto, the “Nuclear Physics” commission of the German Physical Society released a statement signed by 18 nuclear scientists – aside from Weizsäcker, among them were the former or current residents of Göttingen Max Born, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Max von Laue and Wolfgang Paul. Due to their expert knowledge, they repudiated the trivializing depiction the German government had made and demanded the people be extensively informed about the dangers of nuclear weapons. The government was requested to forgo nuclear arms in the Bundeswehr, so as not to further endanger the German people. The signers refused any participation in the use of nuclear arms, at the same time, however, they clearly argued for the peaceful use of atomic energy.
This “Göttingen Manifesto” evoked a worldwide response as well as local reactions in Göttingen. The student union at Georgia Augusta showed solidarity with the demands of the scientists and the Göttingen chapter of the German Female Academics published a similar appeal. The local press reported in detail. Citizens and community politics, however, remained noticeably silent; neither the council nor the administrative committee commented, and there were no demonstrations or other rallies. In a similar manner to the example 120 years earlier with the protest of the “Göttingen Seven”, the city remained peculiarly untouched by a university protest which made its name famous worldwide. A reason for this silence may have been that it was a question of the agenda of federal and indeed world politics, and one wanted to avoid making reference to “communal political neutrality”, especially since the Bundestag elections were coming up. The “Göttingen Manifesto” signaled the “fight the nuclear death” movement, which grasped the entire Federal Republic of Germany the following year.
Böhme, Ernst: Zwischen Restauration und Rebellion. Die Georgia Augusta und die politische Kultur Göttingens in den fünfziger Jahren, demnächst in: Göttinger Jahrbuch 2005; Friedensinitiative Garchinger Naturwissenschaftler (Bearb.): 30 Jahre Göttinger Erklärung. Nachdenken über die Rolle des Wissenschaftlers in der Gesellschaft (Schriftenreihe Wissenschaft und Frieden 11), München 1987)
The Manifesto
The plans to arm the Bundeswehr with atomic weapons fill the signing atomic researchers with great concern. Some of them wrote to the responsible authorities in the last months. Today it is a question of public interest. The signees feel responsible to inform the public about facts that every expert may know about, but the public not enough.
1. Tactical nuclear weapons have the same destructive effect as normal atomic bombs. "Tactical" means only, that they will also be used against operating troops on the ground, not only against civilians. Every tactical atomic bomb or grenade has a similar effect as the first atomic bomb, which destroyed Hiroshima. Because tactical atomic weapons today exist in large quantities, they will have a much larger destructive potential. These bombs are only described as “small” in comparison to the "strategic" bombs, above all, the hydrogen bomb.
2. No natural limit is known for the developmental possibility of the life-destructing effect of strategic nuclear weapons. A tactical atomic bomb can destroy a small town, but an H-bomb is able to make the countryside of an area the size of the Ruhr area uninhabitable for a long time. Through the spread of radioactivity, it would probably be possible today to wipe out the entire population of Germany by using H-bombs. We know of no technical possibility to protect a large population from this danger.
We know how difficult it is to draw political consequences based on these facts. No one will allow us non-politicians to do so. Our profession is pure science and its application. Conveying our knowledge to young people make us responsible for the consequences of our profession. This is why we cannot remain silent on all political questions. We admit ourselves to the freedom, like the western world defends against communism today. We do not deny that the fear of the H-bomb contributes importantly to keeping peace in our world and protecting freedom in a part of the world. We do not believe, however, that that this method of protecting peace and freedom is reliable on a long-term basis and we consider the danger of failure to be deadly. We do not feel that we are in a position to make concrete suggestions for the politics of the world powers. For a small country like Germany, we do believe that the best way to promote world peace and to protect itself is to voluntarily do without all kinds of nuclear weapons. None of the signees would be willing to work on the production, testing of use of nuclear weapons. At the same time we emphasize that it is of utmost important to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and we would like to continue working on this task.
Fritz Bopp, Max Born, Rudolf Fleischmann, Walther Gerlach, Otto Hahn, Otto Haxel, Werner Heisenberg, Hans Kopfermann, Max v. Laue, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, Josef Mattauch, Friedrich-Adolf Paneth, Wolfgang Paul, Wolfgang Riezler, Fritz Straßmann, Wilhelm Walcher, Carl Friedrich Frhr. v. Weizsäcker, Karl Wirtz