Chemistry lessons 1986

The photo shows a blackboard like the one that hung in the chemistry room at Diltheygymnasium in Wiesbaden in April and May 1986. The blackboard shown here now hangs in my daughters' chemistry room at Hanns-Seidel-Gymnasium in Hösbach - but that doesn't really matter.

What is important is that organic chemistry should have been on the curriculum in the second semester of my 10th grade in 1986. But then came April 26, 1986 and the Chernobyl nuclear accident - and with it the end of organic chemistry in that school year. My chemistry teacher was a very committed opponent of nuclear power - and after Chernobyl, chemistry lessons were all about nuclear chemistry, reactor concepts and everything to do with the dangers of nuclear power. It was all very fascinating, but organic chemistry fell by the wayside - with fatal consequences for me and my classmates. In year 11, we got a new chemistry teacher - and she focused entirely on organics: I was completely lost and dropped chemistry at the end of year 11.

Nevertheless, I turned out to be a pretty decent geologist and petrologist, but fortunately only inorganic chemistry plays a major role there.

Nevertheless, I have to say that Chernobyl had a huge impact on my school career. The anti-nuclear attitude of my committed 10th grade chemistry teacher was transferred to me - as was his fascination and sensitivity for the subject. It's no coincidence that I now work at BASE as a geoscientist researching the safety of a...