121 The Color Research & Theory Collection The interdisciplinary approach also aimed at enhancing the collection’s intended function as a networking link between the two historical subject-specific collections regarding the complex of light and color at TUD. These were the Historical Dye Collection at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, the Hermann Krone Collection and the Scientific Photography Collection at the Institute of Applied Physics (formerly the Scientific Photographic Institute), both already long in existence at the time. An auspicious omen for the new Collection might be that its founding coincided with the 100th birthday of one of the most important German color scientists, a man whose origins and career were closely linked to the Technical College/TUD. Born in Dresden, Manfred Richter − known abroad affectionately as the German “color pope” because of his extraordinary competence − studied physics here and gained his Diplom from the Scientific Photographic Institute (Wissenschaftlich Photographisches Institut). His supervisor was Robert Luther. It was there in 1938 that he also received his doctorate for his thesis on the literature regarding Goethe’s Theory of Color, under the supervision of August Klughardt. Later, he devoted himself entirely to color research in Berlin. Richter is credited with founding the German Society of Color Science and Application (Deutsche farbwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft), several color standards committees and the commendable journal “Die Farbe” (Bendin 2003 and 2006; Mauersberger 2008). Klughardt’s Agfa color plates for color photography, Dresden 1950 One of the color charts for testing color reproduction that were produced under the guidance of August Klughardt with color samples by Baumann-Prase at the Scientific Photographic Institute around 1950 as reference charts for VEB Filmfabrik Agfa Wolfen (chart with eight-part gray series and 12 color tones in 5 saturation levels each). The theory of color is the science of the colored appearance, which is conveyed to us by the sense of sight, in other words, of the perception of color ... It is precisely this fact that makes it very difficult to establish a universally valid theory of color, and most of the laws that have been discovered so far consist of laws for the color stimulus. Richter 1940, p. 1
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