Adolf Kraemer (agricultural scientist)

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Adolf Kraemer, illustration from 1902

Adolf Kraemer , also Adolf Krämer (born May 25, 1832 in Berleburg , Westphalia , † December 2, 1910 in Zurich ) was a German agricultural scientist and professor of agriculture in Switzerland .

Life

Adolf Kraemer was the son of the domain inspector David Krämer (1803-1875) and his wife Justine nee Weygand (1805-1838). Krämer married Mathilde Marie nee Parree (1832–1912). After a three-year internship with his father, he attended the Agricultural Institute in Wiesbaden and worked as a teacher at agriculture schools from 1855 to 1863. In 1857 he obtained his doctorate from the University of Jena . In 1863 he got a job as a lecturer and administrator of the experimental farm at the Agricultural Academy in Bonn-Poppelsdorf . In 1866 he became general secretary of the agricultural associations of the Grand Duchy of Hesse . From 1870 to 1871 he was a member of the Second Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse . He was elected for the constituency of Upper Hesse 12 / Ossenheim .

From 1871 to 1905 he was professor of agriculture and head of the newly established agricultural department of the Federal Polytechnic (today: ETH Zurich ).

After initial difficulties, Kraemer set up an exemplary educational institution in Zurich for the academic training of Swiss farmers. Supported by several specialist lecturers, u. a. from the crop scientist Anton Nowacki , he was able to add an agricultural chemical research institute and a seed control station to his agricultural department; The first professor at the Agricultural Chemical Institute was the German chemist and later Kraemer's son-in-law Ernst Schulze . He described in detail what he had achieved after 25 years in the commemorative publication Die Landwirtschaftliche Schule des Eidgenössisches Polytechnic in 1896 .

Kraemer's scientific interests were primarily in animal breeding and agricultural management . He has emerged in both fields with important books and writings. One of his main achievements as an agricultural economist was an extensive contribution to the Handbook of Agriculture as a whole (1890), published by Theodor Freiherr von der Goltz , on the fundamentals and establishment of farms. This article is noteworthy because it appropriately takes into account the agricultural economics teachings of Johann Heinrich von Thünen .

Bust of Adolf Krämer by Hermann Baldin (1913) from the holdings of the ETH Zurich

Adolf Kraemer deals with questions of regional crop production in the book Die Landwirtschaft im Schweizerischen Flachlande , published in 1897 . The clear presentation of the land use systems in Switzerland is considered exemplary in this work . In several writings, Kraemer dealt with the history of the development of Swiss agriculture. With almost all of his larger publications, he has worked far beyond the borders of Switzerland. Kraemer taught until the old age of 75, i.e. until 1907. He always turned down tempting offers to take up a chair at a university in Germany. He found his final resting place in the Enzenbühl cemetery .

His son Hermann Kraemer (1872–1940) worked as an animal breeder at the universities of Bonn, Bern, Hohenheim and Gießen

Books and writings (selection)

  • Agricultural calculations. Instructions for solving the most important tasks from the various branches of agriculture. Prepared for use in agriculture and advanced training schools, as well as for self-teaching . Publishing house Mäcken Stuttgart 1859.
  • Comparative presentation of the measures and facilities for promoting agriculture in different European countries and their application to Swiss conditions. Enquête report submitted to the high Swiss Commerce and Agriculture Department . Verlag Zürcher & Furrer, Zurich 1882 ( online )
  • The most beautiful beef. A concise and easily understandable guide for assessing the physical condition of cattle . Verlag Schmidt Zurich 1883; 2. rework. Edition under the title The most beautiful cow. Instructions for assessing the body quality of cattle from a scientific and practical point of view . Publisher Paul Parey Berlin 1884; 3. u. 4th edition reworked by his son Hermann Kraemer ibid. 1912 a. 1925.
  • The development of agriculture in the last 100 years . Basel 1884 = Public lectures given in Switzerland, Vol. 7, H. 12.
  • The basics and facilities of the farm . In: Handbook of the whole of agriculture. Published by Theodor Freiherr von der Goltz. Verlag der H. Laupp'schen Buchhandlung Tübingen 1890, Vol. 2, pp. 51–388.
  • The agricultural school of the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich. Festschrift . Zurich 1896.
  • Agriculture in the Swiss plains. Their bases and their facilities . J. Huber Frauenfeld publisher 1897.
  • Agriculture in the 19th century. With special consideration of the Swiss situation. A review and an outlook . Verlag Huber & Co. Frauenfeld 1902.

literature

  • Prof. Dr. Adolf Krämer in Zurich . In: Fühlings Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung vol. 42, 1893, pp. 294–297 u. Picture on p. 275.
  • Alwin Nachtweh : For the 70th birthday of Professor Dr. Adolf Kraemer in Zurich . In: Fühlings Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung vol. 51, 1902, pp. 345–352 (with picture and list of the most important publications)
  • C. von Seelhorst: Prof. Dr. Adolph Kramer † . In: Journal für Landwirtschaft Vol. 58, 1910, pp. 293–296 (with picture in front of p. 1).
  • August Lange:  Adolf Kraemer, agricultural scientist. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , p. 636 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Elisabeth Eggimann Gerber: Adolf Kraemer. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Hans Georg Ruppel, Birgit Groß: Hessian MPs 1820–1933. Biographical evidence for the estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse (2nd Chamber) and the Landtag of the People's State of Hesse (= Darmstädter Archivschriften. Vol. 5). Verlag des Historisches Verein für Hessen, Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-922316-14-X , p. 160.
  • Klaus-Dieter Rack, Bernd Vielsmeier: Hessian MPs 1820–1933. Biographical evidence for the first and second chambers of the state estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse 1820–1918 and the state parliament of the People's State of Hesse 1919–1933 (= Political and parliamentary history of the State of Hesse. Vol. 19 = Work of the Hessian Historical Commission. NF Vol. 29) . Hessian Historical Commission, Darmstadt 2008, ISBN 978-3-88443-052-1 , No. 473.
  • Jochen Lengemann : MdL Hessen. 1808-1996. Biographical index (= political and parliamentary history of the state of Hesse. Vol. 14 = publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse. Vol. 48, 7). Elwert, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6 , p. 224.

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Kraemer, Adolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kramer, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German agricultural scientist and professor of agriculture in Switzerland
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Berleburg , Westphalia
DATE OF DEATH December 2, 1910
Place of death Zurich