Gustav Wolff (ornithologist)

Gustav Wolff (born March  12, 1881 in Wiembeck , †  May 31, 1965 in Schötmar ) was a German teacher and ornithology .

Life

Wolff was born as the sixth of seven children of his parents in Wiembeck near Lemgo . His mother ran a small farm, his father was a timber merchant who earned his living mainly from pit wood and railway sleepers .

After attending primary school in Wahmbeckerheide (1887 to 1895) and taking private lessons in Bentrup , Wolff, inspired by the idea of ​​becoming a teacher himself, joined the Detmold preparatory institute in 1895 . Here he was prepared for the teachers' seminar for two years . Heinrich Schwanold , who would later be in office there , sparked a love for nature in Wolff. In April 1900, after passing the first teacher examination, Wolff took up a position as a secondary teacher in Bentorf . Through the main teacher Hermann Schröder (1840–1909) who worked there, Wolff received initial suggestions for ornithological observations and studies. From 1902 Wolff taught at an elementary school in Lemgo.

In October 1903, after Wolff had passed the second teacher examination, he got engaged to the daughter of his colleague, Minna Schröder (1877-1959) from Bentorf ; the wedding took place in October 1905.

On November 1, 1905, Wolff returned to Bentrup and, after his retirement, took over the post of main teacher from his father-in-law: Wolff received an office apartment for free use, some farmland and an annual salary of around 1300  Reichsmarks .

In 1907, the Wolff couple had their son Erich († 1982), their daughter Hildegart († 1975) in 1908 . On October 1, 1910, the family moved to Schötmar. Wolff took up a position at the elementary school on Kirchplatz . Here stopped Wolff, along with six colleagues, during the First World War  - Wolff as "permanently ineligible" patterned  - for over 1000 students / inside the school operations going. In 1921, the year Schötmar was granted city rights, Wolff took over the management of the elementary school.

In the same year Wolff was elected chairman of the " Monument Building Association " founded in 1920 , which at that time was concerned with the "erection of a memorial for the fallen heroes of the local community".

Wolff, who sympathized with the state-supporting liberal parties before 1933, who felt after Machtübergreifung Nazis more and more, especially by the Hitler Youth , controlled. On April 1, 1938, he was therefore granted his application for release from the duties of the headmaster “for health reasons”, so that Wolff only taught as a simple teacher at his school.
After Wolf was dismissed from the service after the Second World War , but he had fought for reinstatement, he was retired on March 31, 1947 when he reached retirement age.

Gustav Wolff died at the age of 84 on May 31, 1965 in Schötmar.

plant

The bird watching and photography begun in Bentorf - Wolff had already bought a plate camera in 1906 - he intensified in Schötmar.
In 1917, Wolff in Bad Salzuflen succeeded in obtaining the first secure breeding record of the miniature flycatcher in the Principality of Lippe and therefore for the area of ​​today's North Rhine-Westphalia , in the Schötmarer Schlosspark he was able to take the first photo of a breeding pair in June of the same year. From the 1920s he published essays and articles in calendars, newspapers, journals and books.

• At the Nest (1922)
• Birds of the homeland - 66 nature photographs of native breeding birds together with a brief description of their way of life based on personal observation (1924, published by Georg Schade, Bad Salzuflen)
• The Lippe bird world (1925, Dröge art print, Schötmar)
• Heinrich Schacht the Ornithologist (1926)
• Birds at the Nest (1928, Verlag J. Neumann , Neudamm )
• From the mistletoe thrush (1950, article)
• From the bird world of the lower Werre, Bega and Salt valleys (1951, article)
• Made of reeds and reeds (1951)
• Birds of the Forest (1951)
• The bird world of Lippe through the years (1952, article)
• Von der Türkentaube (1954, article)
• The Night Ghost (1959)

Gustav Wolff, as a serious ornithologist, understood how to bring his knowledge close to the people and thus to bring it closer to a larger circle. At home he cared for sick birds. Because he bought sparrows caught from his pupils for ten pfennigs, he was nicknamed " Spatzen-Gustav " from those around him .

natural reserve

From 1910, Wolff took the upswing in nature conservation into his sphere of activity. With the help of his photographs he began to fight for the protection efforts of his homeland in illustrated essays, especially he campaigned for the protection of the Donoperteich near Detmold and the Norderteich near Billerbeck . The Donoperteich was protected as one of the first natural monuments in Lippe in 1920 , the Norderteich was designated as a nature reserve in 1947, also due to the bird list that Wolff had compiled .
Wolff once said about his work:

"Anyone who works for nature conservation in Germany can only count on minor successes, but can count on a nice obituary!"

literature

• Stefan Wisekopsieker: Gustav Wolff (1881–1965) - principal school principal and ornithologist . In: “Who was who in Schötmar? Life pictures from three centuries ”, No. 2, Verlag des Heimat- und Verschönerungsverein Bad Salzuflen e. V., Bad Salzuflen, 2015, ISBN 978-3-941726-40-6 .
• Werner Jahnke: Gustav Wolff (1881-1965) . In: “Lippische Mitteilungen aus Geschichte und Landeskunde”, No. 35, 1966, p. 256ff.

Secondary literature

• Konrad Glasewald: Birds of the forest. From the diary of a bird friend . With 112 illustrations after photos by Gustav Wolff (...), Radebeul and Berlin , Neumann, 1951.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stefan Wiesekopsieker: “How has our city changed!”, Schötmar in old views , 5th issue of the “Bad Salzufler Haus- und Hofgeschichten” of the Heimat- und Beautification Association Bad Salzuflen (HVV), p. 31, online edition ( PDF) ; accessed on May 22, 2020.
2. ↑ Christopher König: Bird of the Month November 2010: The Miniature Flycatcher - a rare guest in North Rhine-Westphalia . In: “Charadrius 46”, Heft 3, 2010, p. 226ff.
3. ↑ List of natural monuments , Detmold Office, November 4, 1925.
4. ^ Oscar Meier: Bird protection measures in the Norderteich nature reserve . In: "Heimatland Lippe", Detmold, 1966, pp. 207f.