Basic research
During World War II, the TH München conducted large scale armaments research in support of the war effort. Notable professors during this time include aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt and Walther Meissner. Basic research continued to be conducted at a high level in many institutes, as individual professors, staff members and students dared disobedience and obstruction. Nobel prize laureate Hans Fischer protected Jewish students from Nazi prosecution. He committed suicide shortly before the end of the war.