Curt Weikinn

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Curt Weikinn (born May 2, 1888 in Berlin ; † December 27, 1966 there ) was a German scientist with knowledge of meteorology and climatology .

After primary school, Curt Weikinn attended the Andreas Realgymnasium in Berlin. After graduating from high school, he attended lectures on meteorology with Gustav Hellmann in Berlin . On September 28, 1929, he applied to the Prussian Meteorological Institute, but was rejected because there were no vacancies. In 1921 Weikinn joined the German Meteorological Society . At that time, his profession is stated to be a bank clerk .

Weikinn began collecting written records of historical descriptions of abnormal natural phenomena such as floods, droughts and severe winters early on. In doing so, he scoured the rich holdings of the Prussian State Library intensively .

After the Second World War he came into contact with Prof. Hans Ertel , the director of the Institute for Physical Hydrography of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin , who stated that Weikinn's documents represent “the best material of its kind in all of Germany, probably even exists in Europe ”. Ertel granted Weikinn, who in the meantime had a miserable income as a disability pensioner, a scholarship from 1950, which enabled him to continue his studies and prepare for publication. From 1952 he was employed as a research assistant.

In 1958, the first volume of his “Source texts on the history of weather in Europe from the turn of the times to 1850” was published by Akademie-Verlag , which was followed by more in 1960, 1961 and 1963. Two more volumes of his hydrographic collection were then published posthumously.

His collection of meteorological events with a volume of approx. 80,000 to 100,000 index cards is kept in the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography in Leipzig. From 2006 to 2011, parts of this collection were scientifically cataloged at the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig.

Curt Weikinn was married to Helene Bergmann (1901–1957). He died as a result of acute pneumonia and was buried next to his wife in the St. Petri cemetery in Berlin-Friedrichshain .

literature

  • Wilfried Schröder: Curt Weikinn † . In: Journal of Meteorology. Vol. 20 (1968), pp. 195f.
  • Michael Börngen and Mathias Deutsch: On the publication of the source texts on the history of weather in Europe by Curt Weikinn 50 years ago . In: Communications DMG 04/2008, pp. 6-8. ISSN  0177-8501

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Börngen, M. / Deutsch, M .: On the publication of the source texts on the history of weather in Europe by Curt Weikinn 50 years ago. In: Communications of the German Meteorological Society. 04/2008, pp. 6-8.
personal data
SURNAME Weikinn, Curt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German meteorologist and climatologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1966
Place of death Berlin