Goethe and Chemistry at the University of Jena

Goethe has a special affinity for chemistry. He follows its progress and discoveries in both practical and theoretical fields with great interest throughout his life. In the 1780s and 90s, Goethe becomes aware of the signficance of chemistry for botany (chemical »physiology«), mineralogy and color theory. He also knows to make literary use of the figures of thought and experimental setups of contemporary chemistry, as his third novel Elective Affinities in particular shows. But also on an institutional level Goethe develops chemical research at the university – together with Duke Carl August – and creates new opportunities for scientists.

In 1789, the former employee of the court pharmacy in Weimar, Johann Friedrich August Göttling (1755-1809), is appointed professor of chemistry in Jena: the first independent professorship for the subject in Germany. Until then, chemistry had been part of the Faculty of Medicine, represented there by the Chair of Practical Medicine. The associate professorship is created in the Faculty of Philosophy. Göttling is a »gifted experimenter« who becomes Goethe's most important advisor on chemical matters. Goethe will maintain an equally fruitful collaboration with his successor. At the Duke's instigation and on the recommendation of the Munich chemist Adolf Ferdinand Gehlen, Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner (1780-1849) becomes an associate professor of chemistry, pharmacy and technology in Jena in 1810. In addition to lectures and practical courses, he is responsible for supervising the breweries and distilleries in the Duchy. Döbereiner is provided with an auditorium and a laboratory with materials and books from Göttling's legacy in the Old Palace. In the report of the ducal commission in December 1810, Goethe now speaks of a “chemical institute” for the first time.

The at first only poorly equipped laboratory soon proves to be inadequate for Döbereiner's plans. Goethe's awareness of the dangers associated with chemical experiments in a confined space also prompts him to arrange for Döbereiner to be housed in the larger »Hellfeld’s House« in Neugasse. As soon as the necessary funds are raised in April 1816 (2250 Rthl), the house is bought and Döbereiner and his family of nine move in. Goethe expresses his joy over the successful relocation in a letter to Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer in May of that year:

»That I am able to build a castle for Döbereiner and thus for the whole of chemistry in Jena gives me a pleasant activity. All other institutions that you know are in the best order and discipline; all of them are alive, even if not all sprouting and growing in the same way.«

In 1819, a permanent department for chemistry is established in the Faculty of Philosophy and Döbereiner is appointed full professor. According to a letter from the Duke, Chemistry

»with the scope it has gained through recent discoveries and modes of inquiry […] is no longer to be regarded merely as a subordinate auxiliary science of medicine, but as a distinct main subject of natural history.«

Four years later, in July 1823, Döbereiner makes a groundbreaking discovery in Hellfeld's house, which he promptly informs Goethe of, and which subsequently earns him Europe-wide recognition:

»I take the liberty of informing Your Excellency of a discovery which, from a physical and electrochemical point of view, appears to be highly important. In a connected series of experiments on the behavior of some platinum preparations (which have already led me to the discovery of several interesting chemical facts) against various elastic-liquid substances, I find that the purely metallic dust-like platinum has the most curious property of causing hydrogen gas to combine with oxygen gas to form water by mere contact and without any external potency, whereby a sum of heat is generated that is increased until the platinum glows.«

»It is a most pleasant sensation when we see a significant force of nature soon put to some useful purpose, and thus I find myself in this case ever grateful remembering Your Honor, since the lighter so luckily invented by you is daily at my disposal, and the important relation you discovered in the forceful union of two elements, the heaviest [platinum] and the lightest [hydrogen], continues to be useful to me in the most wondrous way«.

The Goethe Laboratory possesses a replica of the original, which can be shown during special tours. His discovery, as Döbereiner declares, reflecting in 1836, shall be »the property of the world, in order to pay homage to it and to the science to which he belongs.«

Link to a video demonstrating the lighter’s functioning:

Döbereiner's LighterExternal link