Friedrich Kiefer (zoologist)

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Friedrich Kiefer (born September 9, 1897 in Karlsruhe , † April 18, 1985 in Konstanz ) was a German biologist, zoologist and teacher and a well-known specialist in the copepod group .

Teacher

Kiefer passed his Abitur at the humanistic Schönborn-Gymnasium in Bruchsal and after completing his studies was an elementary school teacher in Oberbaldingen , Büsingen , Mönchweiler , Öfingen and Karlsruhe until 1940 . In 1941 he was accepted into higher education and was transferred to the Lessing Gymnasium in Karlsruhe . Shortly afterwards he was commissioned to set up the department for biology at the newly founded teacher training institute in Bad Rippoldsau and to train trainee teachers. In 1943 he became a teacher and deputy director of the institution. From 1946 until his retirement in 1962, Kiefer taught biology at the Alexander von Humboldt High School in Konstanz . In 1959 he was appointed grammar school professor and specialist advisor for grammar school biology lessons at the Freiburg Oberschulamt.

At the suggestion of Otto Schmeil, Kiefer wrote a “Handbook for Life Science Lessons at Elementary and Secondary Schools”, the upheavals of which and all documents fell victim to a bomb attack on Leipzig in 1944.

Researcher

In addition to his job as a teacher, Friedrich Kiefer was a proven expert on copepods. Robert Lauterborn had referred him to this group of animals and encouraged him. He first found further support from Otto Schmeil before he himself became one of the authorities in the field of copepod research.

He has published about 250 papers on this group and newly described nine subfamilies, 45 genera, seven subgenera and 292 species. He also rearranged the system of the Cyclopideae from 1927 to 1928 and that of the Old World Diaptomidae in 1932.

He was particularly interested in the fauna of the underground waters of the gap system in the gravel and sediments of streams, rivers and lakes. He has summarized his research results in several books and articles in handbooks, for example in the series “The Inland Waters” in which he worked on the free-living copepods of the zooplankton in the western Palearctic waters. He made about 130 species of the calanoid and cyclopid copepods identifiable in more than 1500 drawings.

Kiefer has also made lasting contributions to practical water protection. From 1952 onwards he helped to precisely record the plankton population in the lake in connection with the plan for a Lake Constance water supply . During this work he was the first to demonstrate the change in the plankton population in the lake caused by the eutrophication of Lake Constance. The corresponding results are published in the second edition of the book "Naturkunde des Bodensee" written by Kiefer.

Kiefer contributed a considerable part of his fortune to the "Professor Friedrich Kiefer Fund", which has been managed by the Badischer Landesverein für Naturkunde und Naturschutz in Freiburg since 1982.

His collection of copepods, which is in demand worldwide, is located in the State Museum of Natural History in Karlsruhe .

Memberships and honors

Fonts (selection)

  • Remarks on the morphometry of Lake Constance Untersee from a limnological perspective , in: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 79th year 1961, pp. 144–148 ( digitized version )
  • with Ulrich Einsle: From the Litzelsee near Markelfingen. Observations on small crustaceans in a periodic spring pond , in: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 81st year 1963, pp. 1–10 ( digitized version )
  • The water levels of Lake Constance since 1871 , in: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 83rd year 1965, pp. 1–31 ( digitized version )
  • 100 years of metric water level measurement on Lake Constance , in: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 96th year 1978, pp. 203-216 ( digital copy )

literature

  • Ulrich Einsle : Prof. Dr. Friedrich Kiefer †: 1897-1985 , in: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 108th year 1990, pp. V – VII ( digitized version )
  • Ulrich Einsle: Friedrich Kiefer †: 1897-1985 , in: Carolinea , 44th year 1986, pp. 182-183
  • Ulrich Einsle: Friedrich Kiefer: 1897-1985 , in: Archives for Hydrobiology . 106, 1986, pp. 575-576
  • Hans-Joachim Elster : 80. To Professor jaw birthday on September 6, 1977 commencement address , in: writings of the Society for the History of Lake Constance and its surroundings ., 96. Jg 1978, pp 1-6 ( digitized )
  • Jürgen Schwoerbel : Professor Dr. Friedrich Kiefer: 1897-1985 , in: Communications of the Badisches Landesverein für Naturkunde und Naturschutz e. V., Freiburg i. Br. NF 14, 1986, p. 1

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald Derschka : The association for the history of Lake Constance and its surroundings. A look back at one hundred and fifty years of club history 1868–2018. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 136, 2018, pp. 1–303, here: p. 166, p. 229.
personal data
SURNAME Kiefer, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German biologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1985
Place of death Constancy