Ernst Bresslau

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Ernst Bresslau (born July 10, 1877 in Berlin , † May 9, 1935 in São Paulo ) was a German zoologist and professor at the University of Cologne .

Life

Ernst Ludwig Bresslau was born on July 10, 1877 in Berlin. His father Harry Bresslau , a National Liberal Jew , later became professor of medieval history at the University of Strasbourg . Although he came from a Jewish family, Ernst Bresslau was baptized Protestant.

Ernst Bresslau studied medicine at the Universities of Strasbourg and Munich. During his studies he became a member of the student choir Arion Strasbourg in the association of special houses . Albert Schweitzer , who then married Bresslaus sister Helene, and Elly Knapp , who later became the wife of Theodor Heuss, belonged to his circle of friends . Before completing his studies, Bresslau was working on a prize assignment from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Strasbourg, presented by the zoologist Alexander Goette . It had the topic The history of the development of the Rhabdocoelen (subgenus of the strudelworm ). Bresslaus first scientific work was awarded. At the conclusion of his studies doctorate Bresslau 1901 in which anatomists Gustav Albert Schwalbe with a working contributions to the development history of breast organs of marsupials Dr. med. In the following years Bresslau von Goette was employed as a scientific assistant at the Zoological Institute. He continued his research on rhabdocoelan and was able in 1903 habilitation . In 1908 he married Louise Hoff , the daughter of the Strasbourg merchant Carl Ernst Hoff. The marriage had four children.

In 1909 Bresslau was awarded the title of professor. He also continued his research on the mammary organs of the marsupials. Richard Wolfgang Semon (professor at the University of Jena), who had undertaken major zoological research trips to Australia and the Malay Archipelago, now included him in his research on marsupials, as Bresslau had already dealt with this topic in his doctoral thesis. In 1913 he was invited to the University of London to give a lecture series on The Development of the Mammary Apparatus of the Mammalia , and in the same year he received the Prix ​​de sa Majesté l'Empereur Nicolas at the 9th International Zoological Congress (because of this research) II . In 1913/14 Bresslau undertook a major zoological research trip to South America. This research trip was decisively stimulated by Semon, since apart from Australia there are only marsupials. Bresslau also used this trip to bring other extensive research material to Germany.

However, the return to Germany was overshadowed by the outbreak of the First World War . The passenger ship with which he was en route from Brazil to Europe was seized by the British Navy and he was interned. He owed his early release only to his medical doctorate. When he returned, he was immediately drafted into the medical service. After the German defeat, Alsace was annexed to France again and Bresslau refused to return to Strasbourg. His father, Harry Bresslau, was also classified by the French as a "pangermaniste militant" and expelled from Alsace. Conversely, Ernst Bresslau's wife and children did not receive an exit permit to Germany.

Ernst Bresslau saw himself in the chaos of the post-war period as an unemployed professor with no prospects until Wilhelm Kolle , Paul Ehrlich's successor, as director of the State Institute for Experimental Therapy in Frankfurt / M. (today Paul Ehrlich Institute), offered a new job. The chemotherapeutic research institute Georg-Speyer-Haus , which was established through donation funds, was connected to this institute . Here Bresslau got a job as head of the zoological department. Here he began a new area of ​​research, the investigation of the infusoria, stimulated by the aims of the institute.

In 1925 Bresslau was appointed to the University of Cologne , which had been re-established by the City of Cologne after the First World War at the instigation of the Mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer . He became the first professor of zoology at the university and first had to set up the zoological institute. After initially provisional accommodation, a zoological institute was built in the former Volksgarten restaurant on Eifelplatz in 1930 by converting the building (destroyed in World War II). Here Bresslau brought in a staff of employees, worked out lectures and internships and founded a research company. The Cologne research work mainly followed the three main areas of work described.

Bresslau's academic career in Germany came to an abrupt end in 1933, when the new National Socialist government passed the law to restore the civil service , on the basis of which he was dismissed from civil service as a Jew. If in 1918 it was "too German" for the French, it was now "not German enough" for the National Socialists. Again Bresslau was unemployed and with no future prospects. In this emergency he received a call to the newly established University of São Paulo in São Paulo , Brazil . Brazil had been the country of his research trips, that was a task that attracted him. The Faculties of Law and Medicine that already existed in Sao Paulo were expanded to include a Faculty of Philosophy and Natural Sciences and the facilities were combined into one university. However, it was not possible to build a new building for the natural sciences, but Bresslau and its zoological institute could be accommodated in a building of the medical faculty. He already gave his inaugural lecture A origen dos mamiferos in Portuguese. In April 1935 Bresslau wrote a lengthy letter to his colleagues in Germany about his previous experiences in Brazil. But before the letter reached Germany, he died of heart failure on May 9, 1935.

Scientific importance

When looking at Ernst Bresslaus' scientific life's work, his research on the phylogenesis of mammals and marsupials comes first. He was able to prove that the marsupials are not direct ancestors of the mammals, but that mammals and marsupials have developed in parallel. A second major focus was on the evolution of worms, he is considered the first person to describe flatworm -order the seriata . Here, too, Bresslau was able to present final results. The third major area of ​​work, research into the infusoria , was enriched by Bresslau with essential findings.

Publications

Ernst Bresslau wrote 85 scientific publications, mostly articles in scientific journals. The following works should be emphasized:

  • Zoological dictionary. Written by E. Bresslau et al. Edited by HE Ziegler. Jena 1909. 2nd edition 1912. 3rd edition 1927.
  • The vortex worms (Turbellaria) . Leipzig 1913 (= monographs of native animals 5) (together with Paul Steinmann).
  • The Mammary Apparatus of the Mammalia in the Light of Ontogenesis and Phylogenesis. London 1920.
  • Handbook articles for the Tabulae Biologicae (1927), the Handbuch für Zoologie (1928/1933), the handbook of natural sciences (1932) and the Handbuch der Biologische Arbeitsverbindungen (1936).

A complete list of all publications is contained in the biography of Valentin Wehefritz.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Otto Grübel, Special Houses Association of German Student Choral Societies (SV): Cartel address book. As of March 1, 1914. Munich 1914, p. 145.
personal data
SURNAME Bresslau, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 10, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH May 9, 1935
Place of death São Paulo