Hartmut Bärnighausen (born 16 February 1933 in Chemnitz) is a German chemist and crystallographer. He is known for establishing the Bärnighausen trees which describe group-subgroup relationships of crystal structures.[1]
Life
Bärnighausen studied Chemistry at Leipzig University and received his diploma after a diploma thesis with Leopold Wolf in 1955.[1] In May 1958, he flew from East Germany to University of Freiburg, where he worked with Georg Brauer.[1] He finished his doctorate in the group of Georg Brauer in 1959.[1] In 1967, he received his habilitation.[1] From 1967 to 1998, he was a professor for inorganic chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe.[1]
Research
His research focused on the following topics:
- crystallographic group theory in crystal chemistry (Bärnighausen trees)[1]
- synthesis and characterization of new compounds in including rare earth metals[1]
- structure refinements of twinned crystals[1]
Awards
He was awarded the Carl Hermann Medal of the German Crystallographic Society in 1997.[2]