The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina submitted at the outbreak of the First World War no public opinion - regardless of personal settings of the board and unlike many of its members. Public-meetings, however, were introduced only in 1924, making it the Leopoldina were no opportunities to academy speeches, in contrast to other scientific academies. But in their official bulletin with which they appeared in public, obituaries were published during the entire war period to researchers regardless of the nation, including in French and English scholars. It was only at the suggestion of a member from the July 1915 German war dead were honoured with a symbolic Iron Cross, as was common in German newspapers from the beginning of the war. An exclusion of members from the 'hostile' abroad was never considered. During the war, however, no foreigners were co-opted, but again only immediately after the war. The academy board then pleaded strongly for an international reconciliation of sciences. At the public propaganda war in the "battle of the minds" were also renowned Leopoldina members involved, as reflected in total war and its consequences in the Leopoldina members similar to the entire German population. The analysis of the signatories of various manifestos brings to light that the "Declaration of University Professors of Germany" only just over half of the scholars instead of "almost the whole teaching body" was signed, as previously generalized.
第一次世界大战爆发时，德国科学院利奥波蒂娜并没有发表任何舆论——无论董事会成员的个人态度如何，这与许多成员不同。然而，公众会议直到1924年才开始举行，这使得利奥波蒂娜没有机会发表学术演讲，这与其他科学院不同。但在其公开发行的官方公报中，在整个战争期间都为各国研究人员发表了讣告，包括法国和英国的学者。直到1915年7月一名成员提出建议，德国战争死难者才被授予象征意义的铁十字勋章，这在战争初期的德国报纸上很常见。从未考虑过将国外的“敌对”成员排除在外。然而，在战争期间没有吸纳外国人，同样只是在战后才这样做。当时，科学院董事会强烈呼吁科学界实现国际和解。在“思想之战”的公众宣传战中，著名的利奥波蒂娜成员也参与其中，这反映了全面战争及其对利奥波蒂娜成员的影响，与全体德国民众类似。对各种宣言签署者的分析表明，“德国大学教授宣言”只有略多于一半的学者签署，而不是像之前普遍认为的“几乎全体教师”。
