German Institute for Tropical and Sub-Tropical Agriculture

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Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 38 "  N , 9 ° 51 ′ 33"  E

German Institute for Tropical and Sub-Tropical Agriculture

The German Institute for Tropical and Sub- Tropical Agriculture (DITSL) has been the successor to the German Colonial School in Witzenhausen since 1957 . The successor institutions are now a subsidiary of the University of Kassel (Department 11 Organic Agricultural Sciences ). The DITSL is a non-profit GmbH. The most important shareholders are the University of Kassel, the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Hesse. In accordance with its statutes, the institute promotes sustainable rural development in the Third World as well as in emerging countries and thus makes a contribution to strengthening development cooperation in Germany. The work aims at knowledge and technology transfer, resource management in agro-ecosystems and sustainability of land use and organic farming. In accordance with its statutes, the institute works closely with relevant organizations and institutions. The work of the DITSL essentially includes the organization and implementation of international seminars, workshops and symposia for specialists and students in relevant fields. It also maintains a seminar center with office and seminar rooms and a dormitory.

The institute is the owner of the listed building complex at Steinstrasse 19-21, the former Wilhelmitenkloster. If the properties are not used themselves, they are rented to the State of Hesse for the operation of the Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences at the University of Kassel .

Construction after 1945

After the Second World War , the buildings of the colonial school were initially occupied by the city hospital. But educational institutions for agriculture soon moved in, and the complex of agricultural educational institutions in Witzenhausen began to take shape. However, it was not until 1957 that teaching operations related to developing countries could be started in tropical and subtropical agriculture.

Scientific activities

Archive and specialist library for tropical agriculture and resource use

The institute maintains an extensive specialist library, some of which is historical, which is specialized in the broadest sense in the field of rural development, in particular tropical and subtropical agriculture, with around 50,000 monographs and 900 magazine titles, as well as an archive of student and lecturer files from the former German Colonial School in Witzenhausen. It also houses the archive for organic agriculture. The library is currently run as a specialist library for tropical agriculture and resource use . The old book inventory, some of which is historically valuable, mainly contains titles on colonial history. The DITSL maintains, maintains and expands the holdings continuously and makes them accessible to students and scientists as well as an interested public. It supports research that scientifically processes and evaluates the holdings and initiates corresponding projects.

Journal of Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics (JARTS)

As its own publisher, the DITSL issues monographs on topics of development-related sciences and colonial history. DITSL is also co-editor of the journal of Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics (JARTS).

University Association Witzenhausen (HVW) eV

The Association of Tropical Farmers Witzenhausen (VTW) eV was founded at the German Colonial School on May 23, 1906 as an independent association of graduates, which existed until 2009 and now also includes the students and professors of the successor institutions and today's university. Together with the group of sponsors , the association now forms the alumni association of Faculty 11 Organic Agricultural Sciences at the University of Kassel .

Short-term grants for a research stay abroad

DITSL awards short-term scholarships for three to four-month stays abroad in developing or emerging countries in the south to students who are enrolled in courses at the University of Kassel in connection with the preparation of a scientific thesis (master's or diploma). The scholarship serves the personal advancement of the students. The scholarship holders have the opportunity to gain their own life and work experience in development and tropical research in the countries of the south.

Witzenhausen Ethnological Museum

The ethnographic collection of the Völkerkundliches Museum Witzenhausen comprises around 2000 ethnographic objects, 1400 of which have been collected by friends and graduates of the former German Colonial School in Witzenhausen and its successor institutions since around 1900. The Völkerkundliches Museum Witzenhausen Foundation, founded in 1976, is supported by DITSL together with the city of Witzenhausen. The exhibition constantly shows approx. 1200 ethnographics on 200 m². The main theme is human society in relation to the natural environment. Devices for the extraction, processing and consumption of food as well as clothing, jewelry and weapons from agricultural cultures in West, South and East Africa as well as from Melanesia, Polynesia and South America will be shown. Images and text panels complete the presentation. The representation of the economic forms allows a comparison of the adaptation strategies of the peoples to the respective natural spatial conditions. The museum is used by students and scientists from the University of Kassel as a place of learning. It is open to visitors.

Greenhouse for tropical crops (since 1902)

The greenhouse 1902
The greenhouse 2012

Just four years after the establishment of the training center, the first greenhouse for tropical crops was built in 1902 on Wilhelmshof (as an illustration for teaching plant cultivation). It was not limited to agricultural crops, but also showed exotic ornamental plants of tropical vegetation.

In 1937 the tropical greenhouse was rebuilt. It was built roughly on the site of the previous greenhouse. With the new building, the area was enlarged at the same time. The new building contained a palm house 8 meters high and a floor area of ​​10 × 20 m. The palm house was followed by a temperature-controlled house 7.20 m wide and 16.50 m long, in which the orchids, cacti and succulents were initially housed. To the west was a high, airy work room with a floor area of ​​7 × 10 m, in the basement of which the hot water heating system was located. From the work room you got to the two side houses, in which the economic plants of the tropics and subtropics (coffee, cocoa, rice, etc.) found their place. These warm houses each had a length of almost 13 m and a width of about 7 m. From the greenhouse of 1902, the cold house remained, which was then used as a propagation and cultivation house. The greenhouse facility had a total usable area of ​​510 m² and a work space of 74.20 m². This second greenhouse for tropical crops in Witzenhausen served from 1937 to 1943 and from 1957 to 1965 as a teaching and demonstration house for training in tropical agriculture.

The new building of the greenhouse facility in 1965 had a floor area twice as large as the old facility and offered the possibility of expanding the collection and combining the cultivated plants according to climatic cultivation zones. At that time, the plant collection initially included a number of ornamental plants in addition to known types of useful plants. In 1970 the concept arose of aligning the plant collection consistently with the useful plants of the tropics and subtropics and arranging the plants within the individual departments according to agricultural criteria. In addition, the spectrum of the plant collection was expanded to include vegetables, which are important in the tropics and subtropics. In contrast to the plant collections in the Botanical Gardens, the focus here is not on the plant species themselves, but on the agriculturally important varieties of the individual cultivated plant species. The greenhouse from 1965 thus developed into a greenhouse for a collection of agricultural and horticultural crops from the tropics and subtropics that meet high scientific standards in teaching and research. In principle, research work in the greenhouse has top priority, ie the horticultural staff primarily support the research of the scientists through practical work in the test facility and test supervision and through the cultivation of plant material for laboratory tests. This research work has been increasingly reflected in the planting since 1990. Three departments were created for agricultural crops in different climatic zones, the subtropics with a minimum temperature of 15 ° C, the tropical highlands with a minimum temperature of 18 ° C and a relative humidity of 65% and the tropical lowlands with a minimum temperature of 22 ° C and one relative humidity of 80%. With these agricultural crops from different climatic zones and the attached climatic chambers, the greenhouse offers good conditions for dealing with differentiated research questions. Due to the reorientation and concentration on organic agriculture, also with a focus on tropical and subtropical agricultural research and teaching in Witzenhausen, the greenhouse for tropical crops has a sustainable future perspective. The greenhouse facility belongs to the German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture GmbH (DITSL) and is made available to today's Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences at the University of Kassel for teaching and research purposes within the framework of a lease agreement. It is open to visitors regularly.

literature

  • Peter Wolff: Witzenhausen - 85 years in the service of agricultural development in the tropics and subtropics. Witzenhausen 1983.
  • Peter Wolff: Tropical agriculture training centers in Witzenhausen. The development from the German Colonial School in Witzenhausen to the Department of International Agriculture at the University of Kassel. Witzenhausen 1990.
  • Eckhard Baum: At home and above the sea. From the German Colonial School to the German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture in Witzenhausen. Self-published by DITSL, Witzenhausen 1997, ISBN 3-88122-894-2 .

Web links

Commons : German Institute for Tropical and Sub-Tropical Agriculture  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. Source: German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture GmbH (DITSL)
  2. Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aoea.de
  3. http://www.hochschulverband-witzenhausen.de/
  4. Source: Peter Wolff, Marina Hethke and Karl Hammer: 100 years of greenhouses for tropical crops in Witzenhausen. From colonial plant collections to research and educational institutions. Supplement No. 74 to The Tropical Farmer . Association of Tropical Farmers Witzenhausen eV, Kassel University Library, Witzenhausen 2002.