Our History

The VDW was founded on October 1st in 1959 by physicists of the so-called „Göttinger 18“, whom were members of the „German Physical Society“, today‘s DPG.

Starting point was the „Göttingen Declaration“ from April 12th in 1957, responding to the German government‘s plans at that time to equip the Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) with nuclear weapons. Signatories included C. F. von Weizsäcker and W. Heisenberg, who later contributed their expertise to the VDW. The VDW responded to the need, on the one hand, to contribute directly to nuclear disarmament and the prevention of war in the nuclear age in the context of the newly founded Pugwash movement and, more broadly, to take a stand on
issues of the social responsibility of science. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and the in the US founded „Society for Social Responsibility in Science (SSRS) served as models.

Among the founding members of the VDW were Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Nobel laureates Max Born, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg and Max von Laue, as well as Fritz Bopp, Gerd Burkhardt, Rudolf Fleischmann, Hermann R. Franz, Wolfgang Gentner, Otto Haxel, Helmut Hönl, Willibald Jentschke, Werner Kliefoth, Hans Kopfermann, Werner Kroebel, Josef Mattauch, Wolfgang Paul, Wolfgang Riezler, Wilhelm Walcher, and Karl Wolf.

This was the origin of the name Federation of German Scientists, which has been retained since then for historical reasons, even though today’s VDW is a federation of international scientists of all genders.

In 2022, the VDW was merged with the „Society for Responsibility in Science“ (GVW), which was founded in 1965 as the German branch of the SSRS. VDW carries on the purpose of the GVW, particularly promoting a sense of responsibility for the good of humankind and for the environment as well as a critical scientific discourse.

The German group of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is still associated with the VDW today (Nobel Peace Prize 1995).