AH Challenge: Destroy German Chemistry!

Particularly during the 19th century, but continuing on until today, Germany has made an extremely outsized contribution to modern chemistry. Without the innumerable chemical discoveries made in or by Germans, modern industry and society in general wouldn't be possible.

So we come to the challenge: Leave Germany a nonentity in the field of chemistry, and destroy the foundation of the German chemical industries. Who or what rises to fill the gap, in Germany and elsewhere, is up to you. Good luck. You'll need it.
 
Well, I say you'd have to cut out two of the fathers of modern chemistry, and the fathers of chemistry in Germany, Robert Bunsen, Willhelm Ostwald and Ernst Mach. While their were plenty of others from Germany, those two were the most well known, and influencial in German chemistry, and were responsible for putting Germany on the map for modern chemistry. You get rid of them, you get rid of German chemistry.

As for who takers Germany's place. I'd say France is a safe bet, they were after all one of the greatest powers with regards to the science at the time. However if you want to really gamble, Russia. Claus, Fyodorov, Markovnikov, Mendeleev, and Tsvet. I think that's all I need to say.
 
I would have thought that the pivotal figure was Justus von Leibig, who basically founded the German chemical education system and personally trained most of the following generation of top German chemists (including Bunsen).
 
You can't completely remove them, part of the reason their were so many is because the German lands were a very populous region with the resources and industry that form the bases of those discoveries.
 
I would have thought that the pivotal figure was Justus von Leibig, who basically founded the German chemical education system and personally trained most of the following generation of top German chemists (including Bunsen).

He seems like a good place to start, I worried we'd have to go even earlier.

You can't completely remove them, part of the reason their were so many is because the German lands were a very populous region with the resources and industry that form the bases of those discoveries.

Certainly even if someone meets this challenge there would be ATL German chemists and a German chemical industry. But Germany need not be prominent in the field, or collect the incredible density of great minds that they did OTL.

Well, I say you'd have to cut out two of the fathers of modern chemistry, and the fathers of chemistry in Germany, Robert Bunsen, Willhelm Ostwald and Ernst Mach. While their were plenty of others from Germany, those two were the most well known, and influencial in German chemistry, and were responsible for putting Germany on the map for modern chemistry. You get rid of them, you get rid of German chemistry.

Those three offer some interesting departures. Ostwald could have stayed in Russia, and Mach could have moved away from physics/chemistry toward mathematics and the philosophy of science. Mongo mentioned who trained Bunsen, so that could leave him in relative obscurity or move him out of the field.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that it's quite possible to have one or more of Germany's foundational chemists emigrate to the US, Canada, or elsewhere.

As for who takers Germany's place. I'd say France is a safe bet, they were after all one of the greatest powers with regards to the science at the time.

The French did produce more than a few chemists of note, and they certainly had the demand for agricultural technologies like fertilizer, or synthetic dyes, etc. One issue with all that is that French technical education never seemed to be emphasized--am I mistaken on that?

However if you want to really gamble, Russia. Claus, Fyodorov, Markovnikov, Mendeleev, and Tsvet. I think that's all I need to say.

Now that is a creative idea! Russia certainly has the scale, demand, and resources to create a blockbuster domestic chemical industry, and draw on not only ethnic Russians, but Baltic Germans or Poles that emigrated OTL and so on. What's more, the Russians would be in a much better position than the Germans to develop the field of petrochemicals, given the oil and gas industry there.

Interesting options.
 
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