Friedrich Schumacher (geologist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Friedrich Schumacher (born May 20, 1884 in Spaichingen , † September 5, 1975 in Ottobeuren ) was a German geologist , mineralogist and professor at the Bergakademie Freiberg .

Life

Schumacher graduated from high school in Rottweil and studied civil engineering at the TH Stuttgart from 1902 to 1905 . During his studies, he became a member of the fraternity Academic Society Sonderbund Stuttgart . From 1905 to 1908 he moved to the Bergakademie Freiberg and obtained his diploma as a mining engineer in 1910 . Then he worked in the lead-zinc ore deposits on the Schauinsland in the Black Forest. In 1910 he became Dr.-Ing. PhD at the TH Stuttgart. In 1910 he was hired as a mining geologist and mining engineer at the Rudaer Twelve Apostles Union to Brad in Transylvania , a large gold mining company. From April 1913 he worked as the deputy head of the Sekenke gold mine in what was then German East Africa . To be shut down when they had due to the war, gave him Heinrich Schnee , the governor of East Africa, the order in Tabora a coin to open the fractional coins produced from copper and brass and gold coins for the needs of the protection force. About 16,000 copies of the gold emergency coins (15 rupee coins) were minted under the most adverse conditions. Schumacher buried the last 200 pieces in the ground shortly before his capture (this “gold treasure” is still being sought in Tanzania today). These 15 rupee pieces were the last gold coins of the German Empire. He was captured by Belgian troops and sent across Africa to the mouth of the Congo .

On April 1, 1920, he was appointed full professor for geology and deposit theory at the Bergakademie Freiberg. He examined various ore deposits in Saxony using ore microscopic methods. From 1933 to 1935 he was rector of the Bergakademie. In November 1933 he signed the German professors' confession of Adolf Hitler . From 1937 he headed the "Humboldt Club zu Freiberg" to deepen foreign relations with the Bergakademie. He was in charge of a colonial deposit collection with over 1,000 exhibits "from almost all usable mineral deposits of the former colonial empire". In 1937 he also took over the management of the colonial working group of the Bergakademie. Schumacher edited reports on the Madagascar Plan , with which the Jews were to be expelled from Europe. Incidentally, he was never a member of the NSDAP because "the compulsion to convince, the spying, the suppression of every other opinion and the brutal demeanor of those in power" were anathema to him. As he had successfully campaigned for the release of some of his Yugoslav students, a trial was brought against him. He was also accused of continuing to use the old miner's greeting "Glück auf" instead of the Hitler salute. With the help of the Rector of the Bergakademie Prof. Brenthel, the proceedings could finally be stopped.

Schumacher remained director of the Geological Institute at the Bergakademie until 1947. From 1945 to 1947 he worked on research assignments from the Soviet technical office for non-ferrous metals . As one of the first Germans he was concerned with the Soviet plans for uranium mining in Saxony, and predicted profitable results especially in Johanngeorgenstadt . Since Schumacher refused to join the SED, he was finally banned from teaching. In 1947 he was released and settled in Yugoslavia , where he worked from 1947 to 1950 as chief geologist at the " Trepča " deposit , the largest lead and zinc mine in Europe. Then he became Professor of Mineral Resources at Belgrade University . In 1952 the Mineralogical Institute at the University of Bonn gave him a teaching position. 1954 to 1955 appointed him the University of Istanbul . He retired in 1958 as a professor of deposit theory at the University of Bonn.

Schumacher became an honorary member of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall (1937) and the Society of German Metalworkers and Miners (1964). In 1946 the Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina Halle elected him a member. In 1966 Friedrich Schumacher was awarded the Great Federal Cross of Merit.

literature

  • Andreas Udo Fitzel: "Friedrich Schumacher (1884-1975)", pp. 59-69; in: Spaichinger Heimatbrief 2009.
  • Harry Waibel : Servant of many masters. Former Nazi functionaries in the Soviet Zone / GDR. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2011, ISBN 978-3-631-63542-1 , p. 306.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Black Ring. Membership directory. Darmstadt 1930, p. 50.
personal data
SURNAME Schumacher, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mineralogist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Spaichingen
DATE OF DEATH 5th September 1975
Place of death Ottobeuren