Klara (Minna) Renate Döpel (née Mannß; 1900 – 6 April 1945 in Leipzig) was a feminist and a German lawyer until 1933.
[2][3][4][5] In August 1940, Robert and Klara Döpel, working in Leipzig, showed the utility of using heavy water as a moderator in a nuclear reactor.
1942 was the year in which supervision of the project was transferred from the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office) to the Reichsforschungsrat (RFR, Reich Research Council).
[7][8] In a letter written in December 1943, Robert Döpel recounted that air raids had destroyed 75% of Leipzig, including his institute.
Sixteen months later, on 6 April 1945, just 32 days before the surrender of Germany, Klara was killed in an air raid, while she was working in the physics building.