Carl Petersen (farmer)

Carl Albrecht Petersen (born September 23, 1835 in Lübeck , † July 25, 1909 in Eutin ) was a German farmer, association official and writer.

Origin, youth and education

Carl Petersen was a son of the theologian Johann Friedrich Petersen and his wife Wilhelmine Dorothea, née Brauer (born June 30, 1808 in Northeim , † March 27, 1864 in Lübeck). The family included numerous pastors, such as the father, the grandfather Johann Friedrich Petersen (the elder) and his brother Eginhard Friedrich Petersen , who were all main pastors at Lübeck Cathedral . His uncle managed an estate in Mecklenburg and presumably encouraged him to work as a farmer at an early age.

Petersen visited the Katharineum in Lübeck , which he left in 1851. He then completed a two-year agricultural training course in Hinrichshagen. He then managed the Grabowhöfe estate near goods , then the grand ducal Mecklenburg-Schwerin domains Wagun and Kützerhof. He inherited a small amount and was thus able to buy the Klein-Schwiesow estate near Güstrow, supported by relatives. After a short time he learned that he had paid too high a price for the property. He also suffered economic setbacks due to cattle disease and falling sales prices for agricultural products.

Petersen then managed the Windhausen and Sensenstein estates near Kassel, both of which were owned by Count Schlieffen on Schlieffenberg in Mecklenburg. Here he began to deal in particular with agriculture. He optimized the feeding of his dairy cows and sold them to Kassel at low prices. Petersen had already written during his time in Kützerhof. In 1874 he published his first book "The cattle breeding in farms and means for raising the same". In it he showed how he successfully ran a dairy farm in Windhausen. He carried out fundamental ideas that led to the creation of milk control organizations more than twenty years later. He also wrote many articles for the trade press that made him known.

Petersen has been involved in agricultural associations since his time in Klein-Schwiesow. In 1873 the "Oldenburg Agricultural Society" elected him general secretary. In 1874 he moved to Oldenburg, where he began to advise on improvements in cattle farming and dairy farming. His main idea was to set up dairy cooperatives. This form of organization was not realized until the 1880s, when centrifuges improved the dairy industry.

Activities in associations

In 1874 Petersen co-founded the "German Dairy Association". In the same year he visited Denmark. He reported on Danish agriculture in an article in “Studies on the Dairy Industry”. In the winter of 1874/75 he gave lectures on agriculture for the first time in Oldenburg and other places in the Grand Duchy. In 1875 he initiated a reorganization and optimization of the animal show. He worked with the farmer Helene Beckhusen , who had a dairy farm in Rasted. Petersen wrote about this several times and made the company so well known. In 1875 Beckhusen, encouraged by Petersen, set up a dairy school. Farmers' daughters learned about dairy farming here and were attracted by visitors from all over Germany and abroad. It was the first such educational institution in Germany. Petersen lectured here once or twice a week. He published the statements in 1877 as “Instructions for operating the dairy industry in fifteen lectures”.

In 1875, a municipal collective dairy was established in Oldenburg under Petersen's management. There was also a central office for buying and selling butter. An independent commission examined the butter and paid for its quality. The experts found that the butter was often deficient. Many farmers therefore did not accept the new collection point. Petersen organized several dairy exhibitions in the years that followed. He also sent butter from Oldenburg to external events. The awards won there showed that the quality of the butter produced in Oldenburg increased. In order to achieve further progress, Petersen initiated the "Oldenburgische Tafelbutter-Vermarktungsgenossenschaft". This started selling fine butter from 1879 and initially only existed until 1880. Later, when other cooperative dairies emerged, it became active again.

Carl Petersen had a brother named Paul Christian Petersen who worked as a chemist and in 1876 helped him set up a chemical laboratory for the analysis of artificial fertilizers, fodder and seeds. This became the "Ladnwirtschaftliche chemical control station of the Oldenburg Agricultural Society", which was the station for tests and controls of the Oldenburg Chamber of Agriculture. Petersen applied in 1877 to create a dairy management directorate at the "Oldenburg Agricultural Society". This mainly taught farmers and awarded training grants for the dairy school in Rasted.

Petersen was also involved in cattle breeding and called for the creation of breeders' associations and herdbook associations. He emphasized the importance of uniform breeding goals and called for animals not to be selected for “beauty” as usual, but for their existing milk yield and externally visible milk marks.

Petersen's greatest achievement was in 1879 the establishment of the "German Cattle Breeding and Herdbook Society". He wanted to achieve a merger of all German farmers in a central association. At first he ran the business and took over the editing of the "Mitteilungen der deutschen Viehzucht- und Herdbuch-Gesellschaft" and was also chairman of the society in 1880/81. Due to a lack of financial resources and disputes among the members, the association only existed until 1884. Petersen's establishment was nevertheless significant. He was in correspondence with Max Eyth and prepared the foundation of the German Agricultural Society (DLG) through his association . The DLG took over the tasks of Petersen's Society and its newsletter as well as most of the members. Petersen also joined the DLG, belonged to its general committee and from 1898 to 1905 he chaired the special committees for sales and dairy farming. He also worked as a judge for several years and wrote articles for the DLG yearbook.

Working for the Grand Duke of Oldenburg

In 1880 Petersen received a call from the Grand Duke of Oldenburg to the grand ducal property administration in the Oldenburg principality of Lübeck . He therefore ended his work as general secretary of the "Oldenburg Agricultural Society" and went to Eutin. He compiled extensive statistics on the Fideikommissgüter and carried out many support measures. These included newly established bulls cooperatives and cattle breeding associations.

Petersen suggested creating an “East Holstein Dairy Association”, which came together in 1886. The association should enable high-quality production of dairy products and market the articles cheaply. The successful work of the association quickly encompassed the entire province of Schleswig-Holstein. Petersen initiated butter auctions in 1889, which took place weekly in Hamburg. Here prices were publicly recorded and the manufacturers were advised on quality. These auctions were taken over throughout Germany. As a result of this successful initiative, Petersen set up the dairy association's own cattle sales point in Hamburg in 1895. It was the first agricultural use of cattle in the German Empire. Here, too, he found imitators. In addition, Petersen organized many dairy shows, such as the third German dairy exhibition in 1895, which took place in Lübeck.

The first milk control associations were established in 1879. Petersen therefore created a commission for the control association at the Chamber of Agriculture , which he chaired himself. He supports the establishment of further associations and the training of controllers. He suggested that the GLG set up a special committee for performance testing of cattle. The committee should be superordinate to all German control organizations. He spoke out in favor of creating dairy officials' associations. He also established courses for cattle keepers and milkers, thus helping to structure the training of apprentices in the dairy industry.

Petersen's service time for the Grand Duke ended in 1905 with high honors. Until the end of his life he represented his former employer as a full member of the Chamber of Agriculture of Schleswig-Holstein Province . There he took over the chairmanship of several committees and commissions. He was also on the board of trustees of the Kiel dairy training institute. In addition, he advised the government of the Principality of Lübeck on questions of agriculture and made merits in particular in the field of horse and cattle breeding.

family

Petersen married on September 19, 1862 in Malchow Johanna Laura Lisette Raven (born November 6, 1843 in Malchow; buried on June 27, 1933 in Eutin). Her father worked as a lawyer, she herself as an educator at Gut Kützerhof. After the marriage, she worked as her husband's secretary.

The Petersen couple had two daughters and five sons.

Works

Petersen wrote extensively in addition to his job and took on editorial tasks. In many books and newspaper articles he preferred to deal with aspects of the dairy industry. From 1875 to 1896 he took over the editing of the “Milchzeitung”. A characteristic of his texts was that he formulated soberly and clearly.

Honors

• In 1899 Petersen was appointed to the secret economy council.
• In 1903 he received the Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig

literature

• Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . In: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 294-297.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 294.
2. ^ Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 294-295.
3. ^ ^{A b c} Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 295.
4. ^ Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 295-296.
5. ^ ^{A b c d} Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 296.
6. ^ Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 296-297.
7. ^ Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 297.
8. ^ Therese Frentz: Petersen, Carl . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 294-297.