History

The institute, founded in 1946 by Dr. Wilhelm Klauditz, is located in Braunschweig, Germany. In 1972 the institute, which belongs to the top European wood research institutions, joined the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Learn more about the development of the institute.

Main campus Braunschweig

2023

This is how the new building for the Materials Technical Center could look (design concept). Here, the intention is to pool the research activities in the fields of wood-based materials and natural-fiber technologies as well as binders and coatings.

Campus of the TU Braunschweig

2021

The Fraunhofer WKI constructs a new research building for its “Center for Light and Environmentally-Friendly Structures ZELUBA®” on the campus of the TU Braunschweig.

Main campus Braunschweig

2020

The Technical Center for Wood-based Materials, built in 1961, is now dilapidated and no longer offers sufficient space for contemporary technical equipment. Planning for a new building begins.

Main campus Braunschweig

2020

The demolition of a small ramshackle building makes room for the construction of a new research hall with emission test chambers.

Wolfsburg

2016

As a member of the Fraunhofer Project Center Wolfsburg, the Fraunhofer WKI commences the development of hybrid materials for the automotive sector in the “Open Hybrid LabFactory (OHLF)”.

Hanover

2016

In cooperation with the Hochschule Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, a technical hall is built for the Fraunhofer WKI “Application Center for Wood Fiber Research HOFZET®”. The focus is directed at natural-fiber-reinforced plastics and technical textiles.

Main campus Braunschweig

2014

The structural capacities on the campus are practically exhausted. The exterior of the main building, which dates from 1961, is renovated, and an interior renovation will follow.

Main campus Braunschweig

2009

A new building with offices and laboratories is added. It expands the capacities in the areas of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry as well as Quality Assessment.

Main campus Braunschweig

2004

The Fraunhofer WKI continues to grow. Since 1994, it has been sharing the campus with the Fraunhofer IST.

Main campus Braunschweig

1987

With the expansion of the research portfolio, additional laboratory buildings are erected.

Main campus Braunschweig

1966

The first aerial photograph of the institute site shows the new institute building, inaugurated in 1961, consisting of a laboratory and office building and a technical center for wood-based materials.

Main campus Braunschweig

1946

The first research work took place in a rented hut.

Since 2010

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bohumil Kasal

Since 1st October 2010, professor Kasal has been the Director of the Fraunhofer WKI.

Curriculum Vitae

© Fraunhofer WKI

2010 (Acting Director)

Prof. Dr. Tunga Salthammer

Professor Salthammer assumed the position of Acting Director from 1st January until 30th September 2010. Since 1st March 2011, he has been the Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer WKI.

Professor Salthammer studied chemistry at the Technische Universität Braunschweig. After completing his studies and receiving his degree, he joined the Fraunhofer WKI in 1990 as a scientist. Since 1995, he has been the Head of Department for the Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry. In 2008, he habilitated at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the TU Braunschweig. He works for diverse international commissions and authorized bodies and is recognized worldwide as an expert in the field of indoor air hygiene. He holds numerous guest professorships, for example in Denmark, China and Australia.

1989 – 2009

Prof. Dr. Rainer Marutzky

Professor Marutzky was born in 1947 in Halle an der Saale. From 1968 until 1973, he studied chemistry at the Technische Universität Braunschweig. Following this, he worked until 1975 as scientific assistant in the Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung (Society for Biotechnological Research, GBF) in Braunschweig. In 1975, he was conferred a doctor's degree on the subject of enzyme chemistry and biophysics, following which he took his post-doctorate at the GBF. From 1976, professor Marutzky was employed at the Fraunhofer WKI, initially as scientific assistant and later as Head of the specialist department for Environmental Research. From 1989, he was the Acting Director of the Fraunhofer WKI. In 1992, professor Marutzky was officially appointed Director of the Fraunhofer WKI.

In 1991, he had habilitated at the Institute of Natural Sciences at the Technische Universität Braunschweig and was appointed Professor in May 1996. His field of scientific work focused mainly on environmental protection within the wood industry and questions concerning wood bonding. He was also actively involved in European standardization. Professor Marutzky was Director of the Fraunhofer WKI until 31st December 2009. 

1974 – 1989

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Gert Kossatz

Professor Kossatz was born on 14th April 1929 in Dresden. After finishing high school, he began an apprenticeship as cabinetmaker which he successfully completed in 1949. He then went on to study industrial architecture at the Technische Hochschule Dresden where, in 1955, he graduated as an engineer. At the same time, he worked as assistant manager in the company where he completed his apprenticeship. From 1955 to 1960, he was a scientific assistant and later senior scientific assistant and lecturer at the Institute for Wood and Fiber Material Technology at the Technische Hochschule Dresden. In 1957, he was conferred a doctor's degree at the Faculty for Civil Engineering.

Following this, he worked as head of department at the Institute for Building Materials at the German Academy of Construction in Berlin, as consultant engineer for light construction and construction physics, and as project engineer for the wood and building material industry.

In 1969, he habilitated at the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering at the Technische Universität Dresden (former: Technische Hochschule Dresden). From 1974 onwards, he was Director of the Fraunhofer WKI and simultaneously professor (apl.) in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and honorary professor at the Technische Universität in Braunschweig. In 1986, he was elected as member of the International Academy of Wood Science. He left the Fraunhofer WKI on 31st March 1989.

Professor Kossatz died on 26th April, 2013 aged 84 after a short illness.

1968 – 1973

Prof. Dr. forest. Horst Schulz

Professor Schulz was born on 6th November, 1924 in Berlin. After finishing high school, he studied at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin where he completed his studies with a diploma in forestry. Following this, he worked until 1953 as ranger’s assistant in the forestry office in Joachimstal, as administrator for the provincial government for forest utilization in Brandenburg and as assistant and then senior assistant at the Humbolt-Universität zu Berlin. In 1954 he was conferred a doctor's degree in forestry which was followed by his habilitation in 1960 at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. In 1963 he completed a one-year research fellowship at the Harvard University, Mass./USA.

From 1965 to 1968 he acted as FAO expert within the framework of the UNDP program (university lecturer and consultant to the wood industry in Chapingo/Mexico). From 1968 to 1973 he was successor to Dr. Wilhelm Klauditz as Director of the Fraunhofer WKI.

Professor Schulz died on February 6th, 2002.

1963 – 1968 (Acting Director)

Dr. rer. nat. Günther Stegmann

Dr. Stegmann was born on 20th January 1914 in Berlin. After finishing high school, he studied natural science at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität (now Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) in Berlin. In 1939, he was conferred a doctor's degree in natural science. From 1940 to 1941, he worked as scientific employee at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry (now Max-Planck-Institute) in Berlin in the department for fiber research, and from 1942 onwards as research officer and head of department at the chemical-technological institute of the Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung (German National Institute for Wood Research) in Eberswalde.

From 1946 onwards, he worked at the “Testing and consulting body for technical wood utilization of the Association for Technical Issues Related to Wood“, which later became the Fraunhofer WKI. After the death of Dr. Wilhelm Klauditz in 1963, Dr. Stegmann took over the temporary leadership of the Institute. He also continued publication of the renowned journal “Holzforschung“ (Wood Research). He retired in 1977.

Dr. Stegmann died on 28th December 1999.

1946 – 1963

Founder and eponym Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Klauditz

Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Klauditz

Dr. Klauditz was born on 24th February 1903 in Vechelde near Braunschweig. He studied chemistry at the Technische Universität Braunschweig and in 1928 he was conferred a doctor's degree in engineering science. In 1929, he joined the central laboratory of the Koholyt GmbH in Cologne. After the takeover of the company by the Feldmühle AG in 1934, Dr. Klauditz was promoted in 1936 to the position of the deputy head of Feldmühle's research laboratory in Stettin. In 1939, he moved to the Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung (German National Institute for Wood Research), where he worked as scientific employee. In 1941, he became the deputy director and in 1944 the director of the chemical-technological institute of the Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung.

In 1946, Dr. Klauditz contributed substantially to the foundation of the “Testing and consulting body for technical wood utilization of the Association for Technical Issues Related to Wood“ and became its director. In 1950 he received the lectureship for “Wood research and wood technology“ at the Technische Universität Braunschweig. From 1951 onwards, he published the trade journal “Holzforschung“ (Wood Research). In 1953, Dr. Klauditz was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany). From 1954 onwards, he worked in international organizations (OEEC, FAO, ECE).

Dr. Klauditz died in a car accident on 30th June 1963 during a business trip to Munich.

Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Klauditz and the foundation of the »Institut für Holzforschung« (Institute for Wood Research)

Founder and eponym Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Klauditz

When Dr. Wilhelm Klauditz died in a car accident on June 30th, 1963 during a business trip to Munich, the Institute for Wood Research experienced the most pivotal event in its history since the end of the war. Wilhelm Klauditz had been the propelling power behind the Institute and the point of convergence for the activities of the Verein für Technische Holzfragen e.V. (International Association for Technical Issues related to Wood). He had provided the impulse for the re-establishment of the Institute for Wood Research under the most unfavorable conditions, directly after the war, and had personally initiated and managed the essential research and cooperation. One year after his death, the Institute was renamed “Wilhelm Klauditz Institute for Wood Research” in his honor, thereby drawing attention to the unique character which Dr. Klauditz had given the Institute.

In 1903, the year in which Wilhelm Klauditz was born, wood research was still a young and barely-recognized scientific discipline. In the field of forestry science, a number of research facilities had already been established: in 1816, the Forstwissenschaftliche Akademie (Forest Sciences Academy) in Tharandt near Dresden, in 1830 a Forstakademie (Forest Academy) in Eberswalde and in 1868, a further academy in Hannoversch Münden. Material-related wood research as an independent field had, however, been neglected and was barely established institutionally until after the First World War.

After high school, Wilhelm Klauditz studied chemistry and in 1928, at the age of 25, he was conferred a doctor's degree in engineering science. He then received a grant from the Justus-Liebig Foundation, enabling him entry to the University in Halle, where he worked for a year as scientific assistant. In 1929, he joined the central laboratory of Koholyt GmbH in Cologne where, during the subsequent takeover of the company by Feldmühle AG, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Head of the research department in Odermünde near Stettin. In 1939, he left the company to become a scientific employee at the Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung (German National Institute for Wood Research) in Eberswalde near Berlin.

The foundation of the Prussian Institute for Wood Research in 1930 in Eberswalde, which would later become the Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung (German National Institute for Wood Research), is particularly owed to the commitment of Professor Dr. C. G. Schwalbe. The institute addressed the task of improving the wood usage of the German forestry sector through research and development work. In 1934, Professor Schwalbe left the institute, which was then divided into a mechanical-technological institute and a chemical-technological institute, from which the Institute for Wood Research was formed following the end of the Second World War. From 1939 onwards, the two independent institutes operated together under the name “Reichsanstalt für Holzforschung”.

Dr. Wilhelm Klauditz quickly established himself at the Reichsanstalt. In 1944, he became the head of the chemical-technological institute as successor to the deceased director Prof. G. A. Kienitz. The head of the mechanical-technological institute was the renowned wood researcher Franz Kollmann. At that time, the work of the Reichsanstalt addressed the development of more effective methods for the use of wood in order to diffuse the critical forestry situation under the conditions of the war economy.

The surrender of the German Reich also meant the end for the Reichsinstitut. The location in Eberswalde near Berlin lay directly within the front lines of the Red Army, which lead to an evacuation of the institute to makeshift premises; in February to Tyrol, and then in May to Hohenschwangau and Hohenpeißberg in Bavaria. The entire technical equipment, the library and much of the research of the Reichsinstitut were thereby lost. Under the worst conditions imaginable, the employees continued working for a further two months until July 1945, when the work finally had to be terminated due to lack of money.

Initially, Wilhelm Klauditz tried to safeguard the core of the staff for the re-establishment of an institute for wood research by suggesting its incorporation into the forestry department of the Technische Universität Munich. The TU, however, had other priorities, forcing Dr. Klauditz to seek a partially privately-funded solution.

Dr. Klauditz therefore contacted his former academic teacher Prof. Dr. Gustav Gassner in Braunschweig, who was the Principal of the Technische Universität Braunschweig after the war. Prof. Gassner was very interested in bringing the institute to Braunschweig, but the situation at the TU - completely ruined buildings and a desolate financial situation - did not allow the incorporation of the institute at the university. Dr. Klauditz therefore pursued the idea of financing the institute partly through donations from the industry. He found support at the Homogenholzwerken GmbH which, in December 1945, offered to accept a part of the costs for the continuation of the chemical-technical institute. This was the impulse which was necessary in order to motivate further sponsors. In spring of 1946, the idea of financing the institute through a “Verein für technische Holzfragen” (Association for Technical Questions related to Wood) was born. This idea was probably encouraged by Dr.-Ing. Hermann Winter, professor for aircraft construction and lightweight construction in Braunschweig. The support provided by the city, the forestry commission, the chamber of commerce, the university and the enterprises MIAG and Homogenholzwerke encouraged Dr. Klauditz to extend an invitation to attend the founding meeting of the Association on July 7th, 1946.

Under the name of “Versuchs- und Beratungsstelle für technische Holznutzung des Vereins für technische Holzfragen e.V.“, the institute moved into its rented rooms on Steinriedendamm in July 1946. The “building” was a hut of 260m², partly war-damaged and partly structurally incomplete. However, the space was sufficient and after three months of restoration, the first research work could begin. In August 1946, Dr. Klauditz went to Bavaria to collect the remaining equipment which had been saved there from the Reichsinstitut. The transfer was not simple, as Bavaria belonged not to the British but to the American occupation zone.

In 1949, when the institute was given the name “Institut für Holzforschung”, Dr. Klauditz had achieved his first goal: the number of members of the Association for Technical Issues related to Wood had increased steadily and now totaled 102. The financial background was now virtually secured. Whilst during the early years the research work had dealt with purely raw material-related issues, the main emphasis was now moving more and more towards the development of manufacturing methods for artificial wood-based materials.

In 1952 the Institute, in recognition of its outstanding scientific performances, was integrated into the Technische Universität Braunschweig; the funding remained thereby unaffected. The recognition of the particle board as the most important material for furniture is owed to the research work carried out by Dr. Klauditz during this time.

Dr. Klauditz experienced the laying of the foundation stone for the new Institute building - a matter that was close to his heart - and also the completion of the building in 1961; he did not, however, live to see the incorporation of the Institute into the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in 1972. The void left by his unexpected death in the accident in 1963 was so huge that it took five years to find a suitable successor for the management of the Institute.

Sources

"40 Jahre Holzforschung in Braunschweig: Vom Stamm zur Platte" (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, 1986)

and

"50 Jahre Verein für Technische Holzfragen" (anniversary publication, 1996)