Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft

Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft (abbreviation: NG; translation: Emergency Association of German Science) was founded on 30 October 1920 on the initiative of leading members of the Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (acronym: PAW; translation: Prussian Academy of Sciences.) – Fritz Haber, Max Planck, and Ernst von Harnack – and the former Preußischen Kulturminister Friedrich Schmidt-Ott. The physicist Heinrich Konen, due to his relationship with Schmidt-Ott, was involved in the founding and organization, and he became a longstanding member of its main committee. Members of the NG included all German universities, all polytechnics (Technische Hochschulen), the five scientific academies, and the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft. In 1929 the NG was renamed the Deutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderung der Forschung (German Association for the Support and Advancement of Scientific Research); also known in short as the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (abbreviation: DFG). Until 1934 the NG was under the supervision of the Reichsinnenministerium (acronym: RIM; translation: Reich Interior Ministry), and after that under the Reichserziehungsministerium (acronym: REM; translation: Reich Education Ministry). By the end of World War II in Germany, in 1945, the NG was no longer active. In 1949, after formation of the Deutsche Bundesrepublik, it was re-founded as the NG and from 1951 as the DFG.

The formation of the NG was to unify regional, disciplinary, and political factions into a single organization in order to raise funds for the needs of the totality of German sciences. As presiding secretary of the PAW, Planck briefly headed the NG until Schmidt-Ott was installed as president. The NG was successful in raising money and support from the central German government as well as money from German Industry and abroad.

Presidents of the NG/DFG:

Walter Gerlach was a vice-president of the NG from 1949 to 1951.

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