Ernst Albiez

Ernst Albiez (born June 6, 1892 in Amrigschwand ; † July 19, 1959 there ) was a German farmer .

Life

Albiez was born as the second oldest of six children in a Black Forest farming family. His grandfather Kasimir originally came from Wilfingen and came to the Höchenschwander Berg in 1859 . He attended elementary school in Amrigschwand and was an officer boy in the navy in Cuxhaven when he was younger . Two of his brothers had emigrated to the United States , the third died in World War II . So after his marriage in 1923 he took over his parents' farm. At times he also worked as a butcher .

Chair of the dairy cooperative

The progressive-thinking Albiez recognized early on the plight of agriculture in the high altitude of the Höchenschwander mountain - the villages of the former municipality of Amrigschwand are between 854 and 957 meters above sea level. NN - and began to look for new ways to make production more profitable.

When the three independent local agricultural associations on the Höchenschwander Berg, which were affiliated to the Freiburg Farmers' Association, merged to form a unified cooperative in 1929, he was elected their first chairman and held this position for 26 years. Cattle breeding of the Vorwälder breed and dairy farming were particularly close to his heart. Under his leadership, the focus of the association, operating as the Höchenschwander Berg milk sales cooperative from 1930, shifted to the milk business. In 1931 a milk house was built on a piece of land between the former post office and the Gasthof Zur Post, which the municipality of Höchenschwand had given to the cooperative , which served as a collection point until 1954. With the collection of milk, the farmers in the surrounding villages were guaranteed safe intake. In 1953, the cooperative began building a modern collection point connected to a milk bar, which was opened in August 1954. The cooperative's growing goods business had already led to the construction of a warehouse below the old school in 1950 in Attlisberg.

In 1947 Albiez also founded a local association of the Badisch-Landwirtschaftlichen Hauptverband in Amrigschwand. After he had given up his post as 1st chairman of the cooperative in 1955, he was appointed honorary chairman.

The Amrigschwander barley

For the special climatic conditions in the high altitudes of the Black Forest, where the lime-poor and acidic soils required artificial fertilization, a few years before the Second World War he used a lengthy selection process and with financial sacrifice to breed a native barley variety , the so-called Black Forest (Amrigschwander) four-row spring barley , and after the war a two-row barley. Both varieties enabled the cultivation of feed barley on the acidic primary rock soils in the highest elevations and brought significantly improved yields. They developed rapidly in their youth, quickly outgrowing the weeds. After registering with the Bundessortenamt , the State Plant Breeding Institute in Hohenheim showed interest and was concerned about the preservation of the variety. Soon barley was also grown in other German low mountain ranges at almost all altitudes with weathered granite soils. As a seed, it achieved a hundredweight price of 52 DM , the normal price for barley was 35 DM in a local Bereisung report in 1958 noted:. . "It is not known cereal breeding, which would have such success in itself unfavorable soil conditions" Only Further progress in breeding meant that the Amrigschwander barley was no longer cultivated.

He also promoted the breeding of seed potatoes.

Retirement

In April 1956, Albiez handed over the farm to his son Franz, who had married in 1955, and lived and worked with his family until he died of a heart attack in July 1959 at the age of 67.

Honors

On December 31, 1951, Albiez was awarded the Cross of Merit (Steckkreuz) of the Federal Republic of Germany for his commitment to improving rural livelihoods .

literature

• Karl Beck: The Chronicle of the Höchenschwander Berg - Eggingen: Ed. Isele, 1989
• The Südkurier presents: in: Südkurier, No. 297, p. 12 (year cannot be determined)
• Ernst Albiez, Amrigschwand, died. in: ???, No. 164/1959, p. 7 (newspaper title cannot be determined)