When: Wednesday, October 29, 2025, 6:00 p.m.
Where: Please check the current room availability on the Peasec website
Moderator: Regina Hagen (Darmstadt Peace Forum)
Organizers: Ev. Dekanat Darmstadt / Friedensforum Darmstadt / TU Darmstadt |

Lectures and discussion with

• Prof. em. Dr. Franz Fujara (Magnetic Nuclear Resonance, Physics)
• Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Reuter (Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC), Computer Science)
• Dr. Robin Mentel (Natural Science Peace Research, Physics)

We want to take the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, as an opportunity to question the actions of the scientists involved in developing these bombs in the Manhattan Project: What individual responsibility did they bear for their actions? How much leeway did they have?

To this end, we will first take a look at some of the most important players at the time and recall their actions, thoughts, and feelings. We will see that their individual influence diminished as the project progressed and ultimately had to give way completely to pure military and power logic.

In the second part, we will discuss the current trend toward blurring the lines between civilian and military research. We will also address the responsibility of science from today's perspective, particularly from the perspective of physics and computer science.

An event in cooperation with the project “80 Years of Hiroshima – Remembering the Atomic Bombings” organized by the Protestant Deanery of Darmstadt together with the Darmstadt Peace Forum. From August to November 2025, a variety of events will address the various aspects of the atomic bomb: from its development and testing to the catastrophic effects of the bombings on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and their inhabitants, to the nuclear shelters that were available to protect the population under downtown Darmstadt until the 1990s.

Further events of the Protestant deanery of Darmstadt (opens in new tab)