Otto Flachsbart 1898-1957 Quelle: Uni Hannover

The Windtechnologische Gesellschaft honors outstanding persons who made leading contributions to the wind engineering with the Flachsbart-Medal.

The award is named after Otto Flachsbart, who was one of Ludwig Prandtl’s scholars at the Kaiser Wilhelm-Institut in Gottingen where he performed pioneering work in wind-loading research. In 1932 he became a Professor of Structural Mechanics at the University of Hannover.

In 1937 he was forced by the regime to give up his position. Shortly after, he became the director for research of a German steel manufacturer. In this position he survived and returned to academia immediately after the war in 1945. He served his university as a rector and his country as a Secretary of State for Science and Education. Flachsbart passed away in 1957. He is considered a scholar who stood for joining science and technology with true humaneness.