	Geheimrat Koppel, who owned "Auergesellschaft", was later intimately involved in the financing of and influencing the direction of scientific entities in Germany. Among them were the "Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft" (Kaiser Wilhelm Society) and its research institutes. The Third Reich forced Koppel to sell "Auergesellschaft", and it was purchased in 1934 by the German corporation Degussa, a large chemical company with extensive experience in the production of metals.