ETH Zurich: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Medaille für Helma Wennemers
- #news
- #headline

Figure timeline
Wilhelm Friedrich Ostwald was a Baltic German chemist and philosopher. Ostwald is credited with being one of the founders of the field of physical chemistry, with Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Walther Nernst and Svante Arrhenius. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his scientific contributions to the fields of catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
science · German chemist and philosopher (1853–1932) · chemist · Esperantist · inventor · university teacher · Idist · writer · physicist · philosopher · teacher · painter · also Wilhelm Ostwald, Wilhelm Friedrich Ostwald, Ostwald
Born 21 August 1853 · Died 4 April 1932 · Q12658
43 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
11 photos · 1 audio
Listen
De-Wilhelm Ostwald
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
ETH Zurich: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Medaille für Helma Wennemers
chemie: Wilhelm Ostwald
Berliner Zeitung: Wilhelm Ostwald: Der Mann, der den „energetischen Imperativ“ formulierte
idw: Verleihung der Wilhelm-Ostwald-Medaille an Prof. Dr. Claudia Felser
Scientific American: Stories by Wilhelm Ostwald
idw: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Institut der Universität Leipzig erhält bedeutende Auszeichnung
Pressemitteilungen: Wilhelm Ostwald: Monismus und Energie (Rezens.) - "Verschwende niemals Energie, stets aufbauend benutze sie!"
Badische Zeitung: Wilhelm Ostwald hat’s ihm angetan
chemie: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Medaille für Professor Gerhard Kreysa
Bildungsklick: Wilhelm-Ostwald-Gedenkstätte wird neu gestaltet
Died 1932-04-04.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald died in a hospital in Leipzig on 4 April 1932, and was buried at his country estate in Großbothen, near Leipzig
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Initiated the journal Die Farbe (Colour)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Wilhelm Exner Medal (1923).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald was awarded the Wilhelm Exner Medal, which recognized the economic impact of Ostwald's scientific contributions
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald became President of the Deutscher Monistenbund (Monist Association), founded by Ernst Haeckel
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald founded the Association of Chemical Societies, which sought to organize and improve the efficiency of various chemical societies
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry — in recognition of his work on catalysis and for his investigations into the fundamental principles governing chemical equilibria and rates of reaction.
Awarded honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (1909).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1909).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
For his scientific contributions to the fields of catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Albert Order (1906).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald was elected a member of the International Committee on Atomic Weights
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And an International Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1906
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Faraday Lectureship Prize (1904).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And submitted nine nominations for other scientists for the Nobel Prize following his own award
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was elected a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Order of Saint Stanislaus (1903).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald started the journal Annalen der Naturphilosophie (Annales of Natural Philosophy), today remembered also for having published in 1921 for the first time, in german, the then unknown Wittgenstein's Tractatus logico
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Albert Einstein applied for a research position in Ostwald's laboratory
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And his mathematical equation was refined by German chemist Herbert Freundlich in 1909
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was made a Geheimrat by the King of Saxony, which by that time was a recognition of Ostwald's scholarly contributions
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald formed the German Electrochemical Society which ultimately became the Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft für angewandte physikalische Chemie [German Bunsen-Society for Applied Physical Chemistry]
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Of which more than 250 volumes have been published
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald founded the peer-reviewed scientific journal Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, specializing in original research in the field of physical chemistry
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Moved to Leipzig University where he became the world's first appointed specialized Professor of Physical Chemistry
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Moved to Leipzig where he worked for the rest of his life
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ostwald became a Professor of Chemistry at the Riga Polytechnicum (now Riga Technical University)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
On 24 April 1880 Ostwald married Helene von Reyher (1854–1946), with whom he had five children.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Became a paid assistant to Carl Schmidt
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Enabling him to give lectures and charge for teaching
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Studied at Imperial University of Dorpat (1872).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1853-08-21.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections