Ernst Schlichting

Ernst Schlichting (born January 25, 1923 in Kellenhusen ( Schleswig-Holstein ), † April 17, 1988 in Stuttgart - Birkach ) was a German soil scientist .

Life path

Ernst Schlichting, son of a lawyer, began an agricultural apprenticeship in 1939. In 1941 he was called up for military service. A serious war injury resulted in permanent handicap. From 1944 he studied agriculture at the universities in Halle (Saale) and Kiel . As a graduate farmer, he joined the Kiel Institute for Plant Nutrition and Soil Science in 1948. In 1951 he received his doctorate there with the dissertation " To the knowledge of heather humus " and in 1954 he completed his habilitation with the thesis " Copper binding and fixing through humus substances ". Until 1961 he worked as a lecturer in Kiel. In 1961 he accepted a call as a full professor of soil science at the Hohenheim Agricultural University , where he worked for 25 years.

Research services

Ernst Schlichting played a key role in the development of soil science after the Second World War. His outstanding achievement is that he always viewed the soils holistically as parts of a landscape. From the knowledge of their genesis, he tried to obtain statements for land use and soil protection . He presented his fundamental ideas of a landscape-ecological oriented soil science in his contribution " Essence and Meaning of Pedology " (1962), and " Soil Science as Ecological Geoscience " (1977) as well as in his textbook " Introduction to Soil Science " (first edition 1964). One of the standard works of soil and agricultural method books is his work " Soil Science Practical " (first edition 1966) , which he wrote together with Hans-Peter Blume .

Schlichting was co-editor of the magazines Agricultural Research (since 1964), Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science (since 1967, today the Journal for Plant Nutrition and Soil Science ) and Soil Science (since 1982). From 1970 to 1973 he was Vice President of the German Soil Science Society . He was one of the members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle (Saale).

Publications (selection)

• Soil science and climatic basics of agriculture in Central Europe (with Peter Thran). In: Series of publications by the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Kiel H. 25, 1960, pp. 35–75.
• Typical soils of Schleswig-Holstein . In: Series of publications by the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Kiel H. 26, 1960, pp. 1–140.
• Nature and importance of pedology . In: Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau vol. 15, 1962, pp. 276–280.
• Introduction to soil science . Paul Parey publishing house Hamburg and Berlin 1964; 2nd edition 1986; 3rd edition 1993 = Pareys study texts No. 58.
• Soil science internship. An introduction to pedological work for ecologists, especially farmers and foresters and for geoscientists (with Hans-Peter Blume), Paul Parey Verlag Hamburg and Berlin 1966. 2nd revised edition (with Hans-Peter Blume and Karl Stahr), Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag Berlin 1995 = Parey's study texts No. 81.
• Soil science as ecological geoscience . In: Hohenheimer work. Series of publications by the University of Hohenheim. General series H. 88, 1977, pp. 67-71.

literature

• H.-P. Blume and K. Stahr : Professor Dr. Ernst Schlichting on completing his 65th year of life . In: Journal for Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Vol. 151, 1988, pp. 1–2 (with picture).
• Memorial Colloquium "Ernst Schlichting" Memorial Workshop . Conference proceedings edited by Karl Stahr, Hans-Peter Blume and Reinhold Jahn. Hohenheimer Arbeit, Verlag Eugen Ulmer Stuttgart 1990 (with picture and list of scriptures).

Web links

• Literature by and about Ernst Schlichting in the catalog of the German National Library