Univ.-Prof. Dr. Bernhard Baule

Bernhard Baule, son of Prof. Caspar Baule, began studying mathematics in Kiel, where he became a member of the Baltia student fraternity. During his studies in Munich and Göttingen, he became active in other student fraternities. After completing his teaching degree and doctorate in 1914, he initially worked as an assistant and then volunteered for the pioneers in the First World War. After being wounded, he worked as a training officer at the aviation observation school in Königsberg until 1919. He then continued his studies in Göttingen and qualified as a university lecturer. In 1920, he received a teaching position at the University of Hamburg and in 1921 became Professor of Mathematics at the Technical University in Graz.

In 1937, as a representative of science on the Graz City Council, he made no secret of his dislike of Adolf Hitler. After the Anschluss, the "Reich German" was arrested on March 13, 1938, taken into protective custody in the police prison (Paulustorgasse) and held until September 18, 1939. Because of his declared anti-Nazi stance, he was threatened with a trial for "treason". On May 28, 1938, he is released by forced retirement. He had to leave Graz after his imprisonment and was then able to continue his scientific work at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry in Berlin. In 1943, he moved to Munich and, after the bombing raids, to Lake Starnberg. From February 1945, he worked at the Braunschweig Aviation Research Institute until the end of the war.