Günter Preuss (biologist)

Günter Preuß (born September 28, 1924 in Stettin ; † December 17, 2011 in Annweiler ) was a German biologist , educator and naturalist who worked in the fields of environmental education and ecosystem research, among other things .

biography

As the son of a businessman, Günter Preuss attended the Bismarck High School in Stettin after four years of elementary school . After graduating in 1943, he served as a midshipman in the Navy with the Baltic Sea Fleet Association. In 1944 he first attended the seafaring school and war school in Schleswig , where he then switched to the torpedo school as an ensign at sea in the reserve . After graduating as a torpedo control officer, he first performed his frontline deployment in the English Channel and in the North Sea and then returned to the Schleswig Seafaring School, where he received his naval officer license and the license to become a “ captain on long voyages on German motor boats”. In August 1945 he was discharged from the Navy as senior ensign at sea in the reserve.

In 1945/46 he began studying at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel and studied biology (including bacteriology , limnology , oceanography , geography ), geology and chemistry . He completed his studies with a doctorate in zoology .

His pronounced pedagogical inclination prompted Preuss to take additional studies at the University of Education in Kiel , which he completed with admission to teaching at elementary schools in Schleswig-Holstein .

After his first appointment as a primary school teacher in 1953, Preuß advanced to secondary school teacher at the Friedrich-Junge-Schule in Kiel in 1956. In 1959 he moved to Kaiserslautern as a teacher . In 1961 Preuss became a lecturer, in 1964 a professor at the University of Education in Kaiserslautern , where he taught biology, didactics of biology and school hygiene . At times he was rector of the PH. The PH was incorporated into the Rhineland-Palatinate University of Education (since 1990 University of Koblenz-Landau ), where he was appointed full professor in 1970 and where he worked until his retirement on March 31, 1992. Until 1974 he was dean of Faculty III at the university. At times he was chairman of the joint committee for the implementation of doctorates at the University of Koblenz-Landau.

In 1963 Preuss was elected 1st chairman of the Kaiserslautern local group of the POLLICHIA nature conservation association. As early as 1964, the responsible minister appointed him state commissioner for nature conservation and landscape management in Rhineland-Palatinate. After the new state maintenance law came into force in 1973, in which Preuss played a key role, he was elected chairman of the advisory board at the supreme state maintenance authority. In 1971 Preuss was elected first chairman of Pollichia, where he was able to achieve many successes with his reorientation by the end of his term in 1998. He directed the transfer of the Pollichia Museum, initially in the Amtsstraße in Bad Dürkheim and into what is now the Palatinate Museum for Natural History - Pollichia Museum . He was able to win the Palatinate District Association as well as the City and District of Bad Dürkheim as sponsors.

Voluntary functions

• State Commissioner for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management for Rhineland-Palatinate
• 1. Chairman of Pollichia, Association for Nature Research and Land Care
• Member of the Advisory Board for Nature Conservation in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
• Member of the Rhineland-Palatinate Water Commission in the Ministry for Environment and Forests
• Member of the State Hunting Council as a representative of nature conservation associations

Honors

• 1963 Extraordinary member of the scientific academy of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science
• 1965 coat of arms plate of the Kaiserslautern district because of special services to nature conservation
• 1965 Golden Badge of Honor of the German Forest Protection Association (SDW)
• 1969 Silver badge of honor from the German Association for Bird Protection (DBV- NABU )
• 1972 Member of the Scientific Academy of the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science, Speyer
• 1973 Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon
• 1980 Golden nest box for special services to bird protection in the Palatinate
• 1980 Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class
• 1984 Pollichia plaque of merit
• 1989 Pollichia silver badge of honor
• 1991 Order of Merit of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate
• 1994 Media Prize of the District Association of the Palatinate for the publication of the cultural work The Landscapes of the Palatinate in words and pictures
• 1998 Honorary President of Pollichia

literature

• F. Brechtel: On the birthday of Professor Dr. Günter Preuss. In: Pollichia courier. 21 (1) 2005, pp. 54-55.
• N. Hailer: Verba docent, exempla trahunt. In: Communications from Pollichia. 97 (2016) for 2012 to 2015, pp. 273–274.
• Hans Wolfgang Helb: Obituary for Günter Preuss . In: Zoology. 2012, pp. 69–72 ( PDF ).
• Hans Wolfgang Helb: In memory of Prof. Dr. Günter Preuss. In: Communications from Pollichia. 97 (2016) for 2012 to 2015, pp. 275–276.
• H. Reichert: Spiritus rector of the Botanical Working Group for almost 50 years. In memory of Prof. Dr. Günter Preuss. In: Communications from Pollichia. 97 (2016) for 2012 to 2015, p. 277.
• O. Röller: Thoughts on the occasion of the 80th birthday of our Honorary President Prof. Dr. Günter Preuss. In: Pollichia courier. 20 (4) 2004, pp. 51-52.
• O. Röller: From the classic natural research society to a nationally recognized nature conservation association. Memory of the merits of Prof. Dr. Günter Preuss for Pollichia. In: Pollichia courier. 34/2 (2018), pp. 4-6.
• Eckhard Wendt: Stettiner Lebensbilder (= publications of the Historical Commission for Pomerania . Series V, Volume 40). Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-412-09404-8 , pp. 365–367.

Web links

• Writings on regesta-imperii