[3] After his PhD Hentschel initially remained an assistant with Haeckel, then returned to the Technische Hochschule Dresden, where he was involved with chemist Rudolf Schmitt in developing a new process to produce salicylic acid.
[2] He used his knowledge to patent an indigo dye, earning a fortune which enabled him to buy two knightly estates in Silesia and concentrate his efforts on political ventures.
[3] Starting in 1882, Hentschel was involved in antisemitic organisations in Dresden like the "Deutsche Reform", the "Dresdner Reformverein" and was an agitator for the "Deutscher Reform-Verein".
[3] In 1904 Hentschel published the book Mittgart in which he outlined a scheme to send 1000 ethnically pure women and 100 men picked for their military and athletic prowess to large country estates to procreate.
After World War I he moderated his ideas somewhat, calling instead for a migration of ethnic Germans into the east of the country in order to displace the Poles living there.
[9] His vision inspired the creation of the Artaman League youth movement in which the likes of Heinrich Himmler and Richard Walther Darré were active.
In addition to the ethnic ideas, as expressed in the Lebensborn, Hentschel’s influence on National Socialism consisted above all in the enforcement of the Hitler salute which he initiated.