Adolph Frank

Who was Adolph Frank?

Adolph Frank was a German chemist, engineer, and businessman. He is best known for having discovered uses of potash and creating the industry.

Adolph Frank was born in the town of Klötze now in Altmarkkreis Salzwedel in Altmark, Prussia. He was the son of a Jewish merchant, who—like Frank's grandfather—ran a general store. Frank studied the secondary school in Strelitz, now part of Neustrelitz, and then Jacobsohn School in Seesen. Then, he took up an apprenticeship as an apothecary in Osterburg, because he was interested in chemistry. From 1855 to 1857 he studied pharmacy, natural sciences and technology at the university in Berlin. In the same year he passed the examination to become an apothecary with a grade of 1 (the best possible grade in the German school system). In 1861 and 1862, he received his doctorate in chemistry from the university in Göttingen with a work about the production of sugar. Before this, in 1858, he had already received his first patent while working for a sugar beet factory in Staßfurt. He received this patent for having discovered a way to clean beet juice with clay soaps. The emphasis of his work was on the use of potash as an artificial fertilizer.