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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Reconstruction of Production and Storage Sites for Chemical Warfare Agents and Weapons from Both World Wars in the Context of Assessing Former Munitions Sites

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This chapter begins by listing the quantities and sites of chemical agent production during both world wars and outlining the relative importance of these new weapons. Using the example of the production sites of World War II, the setting in which the construction and operation of these factories took place will be described, as well as the structure of the facilities. It will be shown that it was not only Fritz Haber’s former colleagues who made important contributions to the research of chemical warfare agents and their production, but that an important role was also played by students of his successor at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry. In order to be employed militarily, chemical warfare agents must be put into grenades, bombs, mines, warheads, and spray tanks. This took place at seven filling plants, five of the army and two in air munitions facilities. Gaseous and particularly dangerous modern warfare agents were filled in the chemical factories where they were produced. This article is based on extensive research in the context of the investigation, ongoing since 1979, into former armaments sites, the methodology of which will be briefly outlined. It will be shown that the effects of chemical warfare agents—their production and deployment at the frontline—continue to pose a risk 100 years later. In consideration of general public health, the disposal of these agents of must be prioritized. Also in Germany, these agents have been exploded, burned, and buried, and the residues pose environmental risks. Some of the demolition sites of these agents are still unknown today.