Wilhelm Biltz

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German chemist (1877–1943)

title: "Wilhelm Biltz" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1877-births", "1943-deaths", "scientists-from-berlin", "20th-century-german-chemists", "german-science-writers", "humboldt-university-of-berlin-alumni", "heidelberg-university-alumni", "university-of-greifswald-alumni", "academic-staff-of-the-university-of-göttingen", "academic-staff-of-the-university-of-greifswald", "academic-staff-of-leibniz-university-hannover", "recipients-of-the-iron-cross-(1914),-1st-class", "tank-commanders", "prussian-army-personnel", "scientists-from-the-province-of-brandenburg", "german-male-non-fiction-writers", "academic-staff-of-the-clausthal-university-of-technology", "german-army-personnel-of-world-war-i", "members-of-the-göttingen-academy-of-sciences-and-humanities"] description: "German chemist (1877–1943)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Biltz" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German chemist (1877–1943) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox scientist"]

FieldValue
nameWilhelm Biltz
imageBiltz Wilhelm Eugen.jpg
image_size200px
captionWilhelm Biltz
birth_date
birth_placeBerlin, German Empire
nationalityGerman
death_date
death_placeHeidelberg, Germany
work_institutionUniversity of Göttingen,
Clausthal University of Technology,
Leibniz University Hannover,
alma_materUniversity of Greifswald
doctoral_advisorFriedrich Wilhelm Semmler,
known_forColloid-Chemistry
Thermal analysis of non-metallic systems
::

| name = Wilhelm Biltz | image = Biltz Wilhelm Eugen.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Wilhelm Biltz | birth_date = | birth_place = Berlin, German Empire | nationality = German | death_date = | death_place = Heidelberg, Germany | field = | work_institution = University of Göttingen, Clausthal University of Technology, Leibniz University Hannover, | alma_mater = University of Greifswald | doctoral_advisor = Friedrich Wilhelm Semmler, | doctoral_students = | known_for = Colloid-Chemistry Thermal analysis of non-metallic systems Wilhelm Biltz (8 March 1877 – 13 November 1943) was a German chemist and scientific editor.

In addition to his scholarly work, Biltz is noted for commanding the principal German tank involved in the first ever tank-on-tank battle in history at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.

Life and career

Wilhelm Biltz was the son of Karl Friedrich Biltz who was a literary scholar and theatre critic. His older brother, Heinrich Biltz, was also a noted chemist.

Education

After his university entrance diploma at the Royal Grammar School (Königliches Wilhelm-Gymnasium) in Berlin in 1895 and influenced by his elder brother Heinrich, Wilhelm Biltz began studying chemistry in the Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Heidelberg and continued his studies in 1898 with professor Friedrich Wilhelm Semmler in the University of Greifswald where he was awarded his doctorate in natural science with research on the chemistry of Terpenes.

Academic career

From 1900 Wilhelm Biltz worked as an assistant and from 1903 as an associate professor with Otto Wallach at the University of Göttingen. There he concentrated his work firstly on the determination of vapour density in solutions of inorganic compounds and later he was engaged in researches into the chemistry of colloids. He gained further scientific and practical experiences in the university research institute of Clemens Winkler in analytical and inorganic chemistry and later in Metallurgy in Göttingen with Gustav Tamman. During these years he also investigated the influence of temperature on the properties of non-metallic systems as for example Polysulfides of Rubidium and Caesium by the use of thermal analysis.

At the age of 28, on March 15, 1905, he succeeded on being promoted to professor at the Clausthal University of Technology where he lectured until 1921.

World War I

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316,_Westfront,_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg" caption="An [[A7V]] tank at Roye, Somme, 21 March 1918"] ::

His work was interrupted when he participated in World War I. He held the rank of Second lieutenant throughout the war and was honoured with the Iron Cross first class.

His military service is notable for his command of the German A7V tank that took part in history's first tank-versus-tank battle, during the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918. During the battle his tank encountered a group of three British Mark IV tanks – two "female tanks", armed only with machine guns and a single "male tank", armed with 6-pound guns.

Both the British female tanks were damaged and retreated, as their machine guns had no effect on Blitz's A7V. In a running battle that followed, both tanks manoeuvred to avoid the other's fire while lining up on their opponent. Biltz's tank lost the duel – it was hit three times by the British tank and heeled over on its side. The crew abandoned their A7V but five were killed by continued fire from the Mark IV, which went on to engage two more A7V tanks that had appeared on the scene.

Despite attempts by Biltz to recover the tank, damage to the engine forced demolition crews to blow it up on the night of 23–24 April.

Post war

After the war, Biltz continued his academic career. He was appointed as professor and director of the inorganic-chemical institute of the Technical University of Hannover on 22 March 1921. Here he had his most successful years and he supported young chemistry talent such as Wilhelm Klemm and Werner Fischer.

During his activities as a long-time member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, as member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina of Halle and as constant member of the board of the German Bunsen Society he applied his energies for the further development of sciences and research.

In 1933 Blitz signed the Loyalty Oath of German Professors to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist State.

In addition to the above memberships he acquired renown as an author of textbooks and some of them he wrote together with his brother Heinrich Biltz. Furthermore, he was an academic author of the ‘journal for inorganic and general chemistry’ for many years until his early retirement due to impaired health.

He never married and remained childless.

Publications and books (options)

Certificate of honours

References

Additional sources

  • Archive documents Hans-Thorald Michaelis (Nephew)
  • Hans-Thorald Michaelis: ’’Die Gebrüder Heinrich und Wilhelm Biltz und ihre Vorfahren’’ (’’The brothers Heinrich and Wilhelm Biltz and their ancestors’’); Mitteldeutsche Familienkunde Band VI, Jg. 21, Heft 3, S. 231-303, 1980
  • Nachruf R. Juza, in: ’’Zeitschrift für Elektrochemie und angewandte physikalische Chemie’’, Band 50, Nr. 1, S. 1-2, 1944
  • Nachruf G. F. Hüttig, in: ’’Kolloid-Zeitschrift’’, Sonderdruck, Band 106, Heft 3, Theodor-Steinkopf-Verlag, Dresden und Leipzig, 1944

References

  1. (2015). "The chemists' war : 1914-1918". Royal Society of Chemistry.
  2. (2013). "A Handbook of Colloid-Chemistry; The Recognition of Colloids, the Theory of Colloids, and Their General Physico-Chemical Properties". HardPress Publishing.
  3. (23 April 1936). "Parachor und Nullpunktvolumen". Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
  4. Biltz, Wilhelm Eugen. (23 April 1934). "Raumchemie der festen Stoffe". L. Voss.
  5. David R. Higgins. (20 February 2013). "Mark IV vs A7V: Villers-Bretonneux 1918". Osprey Publishing.
  6. [http://lccn.loc.gov/55057149 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 55057149] at lccn.loc.gov
  7. [http://lccn.loc.gov/48027290 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 48027290] at lccn.loc.gov
  8. [http://lccn.loc.gov/50055445 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 50055445] at lccn.loc.gov
  9. [http://lccn.loc.gov/40000383 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 40000383] at lccn.loc.gov
  10. [http://lccn.loc.gov/34041243 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 34041243] at lccn.loc.gov
  11. [http://lccn.loc.gov/52030553 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 52030553] at lccn.loc.gov
  12. [http://lccn.loc.gov/09016564 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 09016564] at lccn.loc.gov
  13. [http://lccn.loc.gov/28020360 Library of Congress LCCN Permalink for 28020360] at lccn.loc.gov
  14. [http://z3950gw.d-nb.de/ Deutsche Nationalbibliothek - Z39.50 Gateway] at z3950gw.d-nb.de

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