 He completed his doctorate in 1910 and served for a year in the military, as was mandatory at the time.He entered civilian employment in 1912 with BASF but returned to the German Imperial Army in 1914, serving in the First World War until 1917.He was recalled to manage the BASF gas works at Ludwigshafen-Oppau and around this time he married Elisabeth Seckler, eventually fathering two daughters.