Institute numbers rocket
1931
Photo: KWI for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Archives of the Max Planck Society.
By 1931 the Kaiser Wilhelm Society had 32 institutes. Following the First World War, a whole series of industry- and agriculture-related research facilities – among them institutes for iron research, fibre chemistry, metal, leather, silicates and breeding research – sprang up in quick succession. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg was one of the Society’s most innovative research facilities when it took up operations in 1930. The KWS also invested abroad, one example being the Research Centre for Microbiology in São Paulo. This all resulted in the emergence of modern buildings with first-class laboratory facilities and libraries, which allowed scientists to work at world-class level.