Some Topics Suggested by Dr. Rodgers (with help from Dr. Ensberg)
* designates some of Dr. Rodgers’ favorites
1. *The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the Europa Center
(delivered in the Europa Center – first day in Berlin)
2. The Marriage of Fritz Haber and Charlotte Nathan
(delivered outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church where they were
married) (Could be combined with topic #1.)
3. *The History of the Hotel Bogota
(delivered in the Hotel in the lobby near our rooms)
4. *The History of the Kurfurstendamm (Ku’damm) strasse
(delivered at an appropriate spot on the Ku’damm – first day in Berlin)
5. Fritz Haber before the KWI (Fixation of Nitrogen in Karlsruhe)
6. *The Role of the Haber-Bosch Process in Feeding the World
7. *Fritz Haber’s Fate under the Third Reich
8. *The Relationship between Fritz Haber and Alfred Einstein
9. Fritz Haber, Father of Chemical Warfare
10. *Clara Immerwahr Haber– the Chemical Warfare Dilemma
(perhaps delivered at the flower pot where Clara killed herself in 1915).
11. Karl Bosch’s Contribution to the Haber-Bosch Process
(delivered outside the Max Planck Institute)
12. Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman Discover Fission
13. *Lise Meitner’s Role in Discovering Fission
(delivered at the base of tower where her name is on a plaque there)
14. *Werner Heisenberg and the German Atomic Bomb Project
15. *Emil Fisher, the great organic chemist
(delivered beside his statue near the Max Planck Institute)
16. Kaiser Wilhelm II and his Institute
17. *Alfred Harnuck, the Great Theologian, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
(delivered in or outside the Harnuck haus before lunch there)
18. The place of Ludwig Beethoven in the history of classical music
19. Friedrich Schiller, German Poet and Dramatist
(delivered at the base of his statue at the Gendarmenmarkt)
20. Johannes Brahms and the great harmonies
21. Who was Alexander Skrjabin?
22. *A Biography of Frederic Chopin
(delivered near his statue in Lisienki Park in Warsaw)
23. The Reichstag and the Rise of Nazism
24. The Reichstag as a Symbol of German History
25. The Wrapping of the Reichstag by Christo (1995)
26. The Reichstag’s Restoration and Its Political Meaning
27. The Potsdam Platz: Its History and Redesign Today
28. *The History of the Berlin Wall and its Implications for a Divided City
29. The History of the Brandenburg Gate
30. The Book Burnings at the Babelplatz
31. Famous Exchanges at Checkpoint Charlie
32. Clemens Winkler discovers Germanium
33. Clemens Winkler’s work in the manufacture of sulfuric acid
34. Mendeleev’s eka-Elements (some famous, some not so famous)
35. Wilhelm Ostwald’s Year in the United States
(at lunch in the Werke haus)
36. Wilhelm Ostwald and catalysts -- Ostwald’s Nobel Prize Winning Work
37. *Ido, the International Language – Ostwald’s Role in Supporting It
38. Marie Skladovska Curie’s childhood
(delivered in the street outside her birthplace)
39. *Marie Skladovska Curie’s activities during the First World War
(delivered at her statue in Warsaw)
40. *Why did Marie Curie believe that Radium Could Cure Cancer?
(delivered at her staute in Warsaw)
41. Famous Exchanges at Check Point Charlie during the Cold War
(Hotel Bogota)
42. *The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig and Their Role in the Unification
Process (in YH Leipzig)
(delivered someplace near the Nikiolaikrche)
43. What happened at the Museum in der Runden Ecke?
(delivered in the square near the museum)
44. Frederic Chopin -- Warsaw and Berlin Concerts
(In Europesjski Hotel the Morning before we go to concert in Warsaw)
45. *Auerbach’s Keller in Goethe’s Faust
(delivered at the statue of Mephistopheles at the entrance of Auerbach’s Kellar)
46. Felix Mendelssohn , his role in rediscovering Bach
47. Johann Sebastian Bach, Not the First Selection for Choir Master in 1750!
48. *The Production and Action of Zyklon B in the Nazi Gas Chambers
49. Tycho Brahe in Prague
(delivered at the base of his statue in Prague near the castle)
50. *Johannes Kepler in Prague
(delivered at the base of his statue in Prague near the castle)