The importance of Hohenheim's agricultural sciences increased with the German war of conquest in the East. At the same time, more and more students were called to the front.
When the German Wehrmacht attacked Poland, the situation in Hohenheim also changed for students. For many of the students, a time began between the front lines and the lecture hall, often traveling back to their college only for academic exams. The students marked the course of the front on maps and held community evenings at which they read excerpts from the field mail sent by their “comrades." For a short time, the proportion of female students increased at Hohenheim.