On the invention of active noise control by Paul Lueg

A historical report is given on the invention of active noise control which is related to the person of Paul Lueg, a doctor of philosophy and medicine, who worked as a physicist for many years. He submitted, early in 1933, a patent application describing for the first time the principle of active noise cancellation. Long before any technical realization, he had recognized the essential aspects of this method. It was his personal tragedy that he ran, by this patent, into severe controversies with Nazi army authorities. Instead of recognition (and profit), the invention brought him nothing but detriments which overshadowed his further life.