[2] In his later years, he became a fierce supporter of the xenophobic and nationalist thinking that would underpin Nazi ideology, and that association has clouded his legacy.

[7] In the same year, he also passed the state propaedeutical examination for university-level instructors of physics, mathematics, chemistry, mineralogy and philosophy.

[4] After his injury, he was recommissioned as a lieutenant in the Luftstreitkräfte reserve, monitoring local weather conditions from the command center in Charlottenburg.

[4] At some point between 1917 and 1922, Wigand became acquainted with Albert Einstein, who was at the time the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics.

[2] In early 1929, Wigand travelled to the United States, at the instigation of Albert Einstein, where he worked with Louis A. Bauer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science.

[15][12] Soon after returning to Prussia, Wigand was invited by University of Hamburg to occupy the newly established chair of the department of Meteorology, a continuation of the position once held by Alfred Wegener.

[16] He was quoted as having described German politics as an "Augean stable" that needed cleansing from the "stain" of "foreign influence," and even took it upon himself to introduce classes in military science to the curriculum, promising to "lead his students into a riot with banners flying".