Hans Merkt (veterinarian)

Hans Merkt (born October 3, 1923 in Koblenz , † September 26, 2001 in Hanover ) was a German veterinarian and university professor.

Live and act

Hans Merkt was drafted into labor and military service in 1940 after passing the Abitur examination. In 1942 he was able to begin his studies at the Army Veterinary Academy of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover (TiHo) and - interrupted by military service in the Soviet Union with serious injuries - graduate in 1947. This was followed by a doctorate at the TiHo Hanover. med. vet. and a two-year assistant as a veterinarian at the State Veterinary Investigation Office of Rhineland-Palatinate in Koblenz with a focus on combating infertility in cattle and horses as well as instrumental semen transfer in cattle (KBR).

In 1950 he started working as a research assistant in the Clinic for Obstetrics and Cattle Diseases at Richard Götze's TiHo Hanover, focused on horse reproduction and completed his habilitation in 1958 with a thesis on caesarean sections in cattle . After a short time as a private lecturer in the field of animal obstetrics and gynecology in Hanover, he moved to Brazil as a contract professor, where he lectured on "Internal Diseases of Pets" at the agricultural and veterinary faculty of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre . He built up the veterinary clinics here, including an outpatient clinic, took over their management and introduced herd care for fertility testing.

In 1960, Merkt returned to Hanover and, as Secretary General, organized the 17th World Veterinary Congress with 4,000 participants. In 1965, he received an appointment as a full professor and head of the then Institute at the TiHo Hannover Pet insemination and Andrology , which was later renamed the Department of Andrology and insemination of pets. Until 1989 he worked on reproduction and insemination - especially the long-term conservation of sperm in various domestic animals - and reproduction in horses as a specialty. He also trained postgraduate veterinarians for breeding hygiene. During this time as a university lecturer, he supervised five post-doctoral students, 236 doctoral students, wrote over 300 publications and brought out more than 30 scientific films. In 1989 he retired.

Since 1966, Merkt has been running the academic international office of his university on a voluntary basis. This made him internationally effective: he organized partnerships with seven Brazilian, five other South and Central American (Chile, Paraguay, Guatemala and Costa Rica) and eleven other educational institutions. He also developed a range of courses in veterinary medicine in the tropics and subtropics.

He died in an accident.

As a volunteer, he was also active in other committees, so

• in the selection committee of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the program "Germans overseas",
• in the harmonization committee for the veterinary profession in Luxembourg (including four years as general secretary),
• several years as chairman of the section “Reproduction” within the German Society for Zuchtungskunde (DGfZ) and
• as an expert and member of the breeding committee in the directorate for thoroughbred breeding and races e. V.

Publications (selection)

• The bursa ovarica of the cat: with a comparative consideration of the bursa ovarica of the dog, pig, cattle and horse as well as humans. Dissertation at the TiHo Hannover, 1948
• Caesarean section in cattle in modern obstetrics. Habil. Schr. at TiHo Hannover, 1958; Hanover: Schaper; 2nd edition, 1959; Jena: G. Fischer, 1958 as a licensed edition of the publishing house M. & H. Schaper, Hanover for the GDR; 2nd edition, 1959, Jena: VEB G. Fischer
• The gynecological examination of the mare. Educational film, 1990
• Insemination with fresh semen on the horse. Educational film, 1991

Honors / awards

• Honorary doctorate from the Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (Brazil)
• Honorary doctorate from the Universidad Austral de Chile
• Honorary doctorate from the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (Paraguay)
• Honorary doctorate from the University of Veterinary Medicine Helsinki (Finland)
• Honorary doctorate from the Universidade Federal da Bahia (Brazil)
• Honorary Professor of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Veterinary Society of Brazil
• Gold Medal of Merit of the Warsaw Agricultural University
• 1993 Hermann von Nathusius Medal of the DGfZ
• Honorary Member of the World Veterinary Association,
• Honorary member of the Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Veterinaria
• Honorary member of the Academia Baiana de Medicina Veterinaria
• Honorary member of the Sociedade de Veterinaria de Rio Grande do Sul and de Pernambuco (Brazil)
• Member of the Sociedad de Medicina Veterinaria de Argentina
• 1983 Silver Medal of the Directorate for Thoroughbred Breeding and Races e. V.
• 1988 Golden Medal of the Directorate for Thoroughbred Breeding and Races. V.

literature

• Philipp R. Prince of Solms-Lich: Hermann von Nathusius Medal for Prof. Dr. Dr. hc mult. Hans Merkt. In: Zkde, 65, 1993, (6), 405-406
• NN: Laudation Prof. Dr. Dr. hc mult. Hans Merkt. In: Reproduction Medicine, 2000, p. 69
• K.-F. Weitze among others: Obituary for Professor Dr. Dr. hc mult. Hans Merkt. In: Zkde, 74, 2002, issue 1, pp. 1–2
• Dietrich Krause among others: Prof. Dr. em. Dr. hc mult. Hans Merkt passed away. In: TiHo Anzeiger, Hannover, Heft 8, 2001, p. 10 (2)
• Board of Directors for Thoroughbred Breeding and Races e. V .: Communication dated June 2, 2015

Web links

• Biographical databases of the veterinary library of the Free University of Berlin
• Directorate for Thoroughbred Breeding and Racing

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Obituary in the TiHo Anzeiger pdf
2. ^ German Society for Zuchtungskunde eV (DGfZ): Hermann von Nathusius. Retrieved on July 3, 2019 (German).