Emil Krüger (agricultural scientist)

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Emil Krüger (born February 2, 1855 in Verchen near Demmin ; † December 27, 1925 in Hanover ) was a German civil engineer , cultural technician , construction clerk and since 1913 professor at the Agricultural University in Berlin . Based on the knowledge about the water requirements of agricultural crops, he worked out the technical basis for modern field irrigation and examined its economic profitability.

Live and act

Emil Krüger, son of a farmer, attended grammar schools in Anklam and Neubrandenburg and, after graduating from high school, studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Dresden and at the Berlin Building Academy . After completing his studies, he entered the civil service and was appointed government builder ( assessor ) in 1885 . After various activities in hydraulic engineering inspections and in the melioration construction office in Lüneburg, he went to Bromberg in 1906 as head of the local melioration construction office. At the same time he was entrusted with the management of the melioration department of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Agriculture in Bromberg. At this research station he mainly dealt with questions of field irrigation and tested various irrigation methods for their suitability in agricultural practice.

In 1890, at the age of 34, he married Helene Uhlenhuth (born March 26, 1868 - † November 4, 1917), a sister of Paul Uhlenhuth . Their daughter Hedwig was born in 1891 (and married Hans Bavendamm in 1924 ), their son Paul in 1894 (he was the father of Arne Krüger ).

From August 11 to November 4, 1904, Krüger traveled through the USA on the occasion of the World Exhibition in St. Louis . He wrote the book “Contributions to the Knowledge of Water Management in the United States of America”, published in September 1906, on the results of this trip. Report on a study trip through the United States of America in the summer of 1904 ”.

In 1913, Krüger accepted a call as a full professor at the newly founded Institute for Cultural Technology and Improvement at the Agricultural University in Berlin. Until his retirement in 1923, he continued his attempts at field irrigation and created the technical basis for the construction of irrigation systems. He also worked on current problems of wastewater utilization and the drainage and irrigation of bog areas.

Around six years after his first wife Helene Uhlenhuth died on November 4, 1917, Emil Krüger married her younger sister Emmi Uhlenhuth (1890–1939), his former sister-in-law, in 1923.

When he was appointed to the Agricultural University in Berlin , Krüger took on extensive teaching tasks in the fields of agriculture, geodesy and cultural engineering. His textbook Kulturtechnischer Wasserbau , which arose from lectures and was published in 1921, reflects the state of knowledge of amelioration technology at that time. Krüger published many of his research results in the magazine Der Kulturtechniker , the central journal of the German Cultural Technical Society . Of his independent publications, the text Die Feldberegnung (1919) deserves special mention. From 1916 to 1918 Krüger was rector of the Agricultural University in Berlin. Kruger was often referred to as the "father of field irrigation". The Philosophical Faculty of the University of Breslau awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1923 .

Emil Krüger's grave is located in the south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf .

Fonts (selection)

  • Contributions to the knowledge of water management in the United States of America. DLG-Verlag, Berlin 1906. (= work of the DLG , issue 119.)
  • About irrigation of the fields with pure water and irrigation with diluted faeces. Reichenbach, Leipzig 1914.
  • Basics and tasks of cultural-technical hydraulic engineering. (Speech to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor, given in Berlin in 1918) Parey, Berlin 1918.
  • The field irrigation. Parey, Berlin 1919. (= Landwirtschaftliche Hefte , No. 37/38.)
  • Cultural hydraulic engineering. Julius Springer, Berlin 1921. (= reference library for civil engineers .)

literature

  • Ferdinand Zuncker: Professor Dr. hc Emil Krüger †. In: Der Kulturtechniker , 28th year 1925, pp. 409–411 (with picture).
  • Kurt Illner: Emil Krüger. In: From Thaer to Mitscherlich. Short biographies of important Berlin agricultural scientists. Berlin 1987, pp. 41–47 and p. 78. (= contributions to the history of the Humboldt University of Berlin , no. 16.)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Emil Krüger, "Contributions to the Knowledge of Water Management in the United States of America. Report on a study trip through the United States of America in the summer of 1904; Reported by the government and building councilor Krüger, amelioration building officer in Bromberg. ”, Work of the German Agricultural Society, Issue 119, published by the Board of Directors, German Agricultural Society, Berlin SW. 11., Dessauer Str. 14, September 1906, 60 pages, 48 ​​black and white images, printed by Gebr. Unger in Berlin, Bernburger Str. 30
personal data
SURNAME Kruger, Emil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil engineer, cultural technician, construction officer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH Verchen , Western Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1925
Place of death Hanover