During the Second World War, Staudinger headed the chemical department under Franz Bchner at the Freiburg Institute for Aviation Medical Pathology of the Reich Aviation Ministry from 1941. At this time, his main focus was on cold research. Staudinger took part in the conference on medical questions in distress at sea and winter distress on October 26th and 27th, 1942, where there was also a presentation on the hypothermation experiments in the Dachau concentration camp. From the late 1940s he was based at Mannheim Municipal Hospital and continued most of his later career at the University Of Heidelberg & Geissen. Ernst Klee's book The Lexicon Of The Third Reich covers Staudingers life and history in detail.