Fritz Schmidt (zoologist)

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Fritz Schmidt (born July 12, 1892 in Thuringia , † February 27, 1986 in Bremen ) was a German zoologist who was particularly concerned with the fields of fur-bearing animals. He was actively involved in fur farming, he was considered one of the most prominent experts in fur farming.

biography

Fritz Schmidt was born in a Thuringian rectory in 1892 and spent his youth in the country. He attended the humanistic grammar school in Weimar. He then studied natural sciences at the University of Berlin, where he passed the pre-medical examination in the summer semester of 1914.

From 1910 to 1914 he completed training as a military veterinarian at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Berlin. During the First World War he served as a field aid and battalion doctor in an infantry regiment, and in 1920 he retired from the army as a senior veterinarian. After the war he devoted himself entirely to the natural sciences, he resumed his studies, which he obtained in 1921 with a doctorate. phil., majoring in zoology.

He worked as editor for zoology and medicine at the FA Brockhaus publishing house , where he participated in the design of the handbook of knowledge and other great works. After working as a publisher, inspired by his knowledge from American magazines of the emerging fur farming in Canada and the USA, he then followed, as he wrote in his résumé, his "real inclination, the keeping and breeding of wild animals". Since 1924 he has been in charge of the breeding of the silver fox farm in Hirschegg-Riezlern in the Allgäu, near Oberstdorf, which was put into operation in 1922 by the German experimental breeding company edler Pelztiere, Leipzig GmbH & Co. It was the first Central European silver fox farm. Fur farming had hardly been introduced in Germany at the time, and there were no textbooks on the subject. Fritz Schmidt published his experiences and findings regularly in the specialist journal "Die Pelztierzucht", which has been published since 1925.

Prominent Leipzig tobacco companies belonged to the shareholders of the German experimental breeding company for noble fur animals . In 1927, the owner of the farm contacted the Soviet Union and supplied the breeding material necessary for breeding there. In January 1928 Schmidt was delegated to the Soviet Union. There he first set up the Schirschins breeding farm, which still exists today in the village of Schirschinski (ru: Ширшинский) for the German entrepreneur Rosen . In the following year, 1929, Schmidt took over the scientific management of the Russian state zoo farm Puschkino , 30 km northeast of Moscow, which he looked after for six and a half years. It was the central Russian apprenticeship and training company for fur breeding, at the same time connected to a large breeding farm to supply high-quality breeding animals to other newly established companies, as well as a comprehensive experimental farm. A significant area of ​​responsibility was scientific research, which was carried out in numerous fields and in close cooperation under the direction of a number of Moscow university institutes.

In Pushkino, he was the first to succeed in systematically growing sables . He had further successes in breeding there with raccoon dogs , Kolinsky , steppe iltis and various other fur animals. In 1934 the construction of the farm was essentially finished and Schmidt returned to Germany. The state fur trading company Soyuzpushnina bid him farewell with a banquet.

From Russia back in Germany he took over the breeding management of the GEZ - Joint Edelfurztier-Zucht Betriebsgesellschaft mbH , based in Berlin. In this capacity, he built large farms in Zechendorf / West Prussia (Czechy), Plau / Mecklenburg ( fur farm Appelburg ) and Königs Wusterhausen / Uckermark. The farms in Zechendorf and Plau were the largest fur farms in Europe at the time.

In 1929 he married Hildegard Binder. In the course of the reorganization of German fur breeding with the takeover of power by the National Socialists, he got the position of breeding manager at the WDP - Economic Cooperative of German Fur Breeders , Frankfurt am Main. His tasks included visiting and advising the individual farms, also in order to ensure that the breeding goal was uniformly aligned there.

In 1939 the German Forest Authority entrusted Schmidt with the scientific management of the German Wildlife Research Center in Schorfheide , near Johannistal . His task was to breed, in addition to larger game, including wild cats, beavers, otters, martens and other animal species whose offspring were intended for planned nature reserves and game enclosures. In the course of the war, however, these plans were terminated.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, he was the leader of the newly founded RIAG - Rauchwaren-INTERESTS AG. His duties included looking after the fur farms in the Baltic provinces, Ukraine and Poland in the occupied eastern region.

After the Second World War he worked again as a consultant for German fur breeding until the German Fur Breeders' Cooperative in Frankfurt am Main appointed him to be their breeding manager. He advised German fur breeders until the late 1960s. His numerous publications now appeared mainly in the specialist journals Der deutsche Pelztierzüchter (FC Mayer), Munich, where he was editor, and in Das Pelzgewerbe (Hermelin-Verlag, Paul Schöps), Berlin and Leipzig.

Shortly before the age of 70, he retired from practical work. However, he continued to work as a judge at animal shows, course leader, member of the examination commission for fur-breeding assistants and masters and as editor of the magazine of the German fur-breeder . His last and most extensive work was "The Book of Fur Animals and Furs", which appeared in 1970.

Awards

For a long time Schmidt's success in the development of fur farming was not mentioned in the literature of Soviet Russia: “The fact that I, as a foreigner, solved the problem of sable farming didn't really suit many a nationally conscious Russian, but these facts had to be or accept badly. […] That was probably what happened to all German experts who worked in Russia up to World War II. ”He was all the more pleased when the special issue for the 35th anniversary of the Pushkinsky sovkhos referred to his work.

The chinchilla breeders recognized his work by appointing him honorary chairman of the breeding committee of the German chinchilla breeders' associations - ADCV and the state association of northwest German chinchilla breeders . The Central Association of German Fur Breeders e. V. awarded him his gold medal. In 1970 he received the “Golden Fur Moth” award from the fur industry.

Works

  • 1938 The silver fox and its breeding . Munich
  • 1943 On the natural history of the tree and stone marten. With comparative considerations of their closest relatives, especially the Siberian sable and the American spruce marten . Schöps, Leipzig
  • 1949 The book of fur animals and pelts . FC Mayer Verlag, Munich 1970
  • 1951 The martens and their breeding . ( Contributions to animal science and animal breeding , Vol. 4), Schöps, Leipzig
  • 1961 ground plan of the mink cultivation , Munich

Articles (selection)

  • 1925 The litter result in the Hirschegg-Riezlern silver fox farm . In: Die Furztierzucht , 1925, Issue 1–2
  • 1948 Unknown from the famous brown hare . In: Wild and Dog . Volume 51, July 1948 pp. 145-146
  • 1950, 1955 On the fate of the European beaver . In: 1) Das Pelzgewerbe , supplement to Hermelin , Illustrated magazine for fur and fashion, issue 9/10, Leipzig and Berlin 1950, pp. 1-7. --- 2) Wild und Hund , vol. 58, 1955/56, pp. 21-23
  • 1955 Reintroduction and proliferation of fur animals . In: Wild und Hund , 58th year 1955/56, pp. 163-164
  • 1956 Fur farming . In: Der Kürschner , 2nd edition, Verlag JP Bachem, Cologne, pp. 259-265
  • Own articles in The Fur Industry ,
In addition, from around 1950 to around 1961, together with the publisher Paul Schöps and others, collaboration on all editorial articles on topics of zoology and fur farming:
    • 1951 Mutations in Mink Breeding , Volume 3; About the hair change of fur animals , booklet 6
    • 1952 On the quality of farm fur - silver fox and mink , On the quality of farm fur - nutria . Booklet 5; The development of chinchilla breeding , volume 6
    • 1953 fur research - fur development in farm animals , issue 1/2; On the nature of mutation . Booklet 3/4; From the silver bisam and its wearer, the Desman , issue 5/6
    • 1955 New Paths to Fur Production , Issue 6; Raccoon dogs (sea foxes) in Eastern Europe , issue 1
    • 1956 The Killing of Farm Fur Animals , No. 4
    • 1957 Die Zucht des Mink , Issues 1 and 3; Litter size and number of teats , booklet 5
    • 1959 Building and Planting the Hair , Volume 5; On the reproduction of the species of marten, real marten , booklet 2; On the reproduction of the marten species, mink polecat , booklet 6; The body lengths of the fur animals (with Schöps): The body lengths of the marten species , booklet 3, the fox species, booklet 6
    • 1960 The structure of the fur , volume 2; On the reproduction of the otter , booklet 3; The habits of the real marten , booklet 4; On the reproduction of the foxes , booklet 6
    • 1961 On the reproduction of the chinchilla , volume 2

Web links

Commons : Fritz Schmidt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Baran: Pioneers of fur farming - Dr. Fritz Schmidt was 70 years old . In: Das Pelzgewerbe , 1962 No. 4, Hermelin-Verlag, Berlin et al., Pp. 168–169.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Fritz Schmidt: Undated personal curriculum vitae, letter sheet Bremen (around 1970). G. & C. Franke collection.
  3. ↑ Paul Schöps: The farm breeding of native fur animals . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt , January 19, 1932, p. 2.
  4. ↑ http://shirsha.ru: About the company (О компании) (Russian), Russkij sobol, FGUP (last accessed October 3, 2018).
  5. ^ Fritz Schmidt: Memories of Pushkino, the I. Moscow Zoo Farm. To build up fur farming in the Soviet Union . In: Das Pelzgewerbe No. 2, 1966, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., Pp. 63-70.
  6. ↑ Obituary.
  7. ↑ Without indication of author: Dr. Fritz Schmidt † . In: Deutsche Pelztierzüchter Zeitung, April 1986, p. 61.
  8. ^ Fritz Schmidt: Letter to Christian Franke, Murrhardt of September 29, 1977. Collection G. & C. Franke, Murrhardt.
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist and specialist author
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Thuringia
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1986
Place of death Bremen