Hans Prescher (geologist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clemens Richard Hans Prescher (born May 8, 1926 in Strehla , † September 29, 1996 in Dresden ) was a German geologist and museum director.

Life

Hans Prescher was born as the son of the master baker and confectioner Richard Prescher. He spent his childhood in Strehla and Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule from 1936 . From 1946 he studied geology at the Bergakademie Freiberg , in 1949 he attended Serge von Bubnoff's lectures at the University of Greifswald for one semester . In 1950 he obtained his diploma in Freiberg with a thesis on the Niederschöna layers of the Elbe sandstone. His dissertation also dealt with this topic in 1954. 1981 followed the habilitation at the Humboldt University in Berlin with a thesis on the collections of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on mineralogy, geology and paleontology.

After graduating, Prescher began working at the State Museum for Mineralogy and Geology in Dresden , where he became director in 1953 and remained until 1984. In addition to his research on the geology of Saxony, he dealt extensively with the history of geo and mining sciences. He published a 12-volume edition of Georgius Agricola's works and wrote numerous biographies on scientists from the 16th to 20th centuries.

From 1957 Prescher worked in the " Working Group for Research into Saxon Switzerland " (today the Saxon Switzerland Working Group in the Saxon Heritage Protection Association ). In 1971 he founded the working group " Geological Natural Monuments of Saxony ". The working group recorded over 500 proposed and existing geological natural monuments in Saxony and made them accessible to a wide range of interested parties through various publications.

In 1985 Hans Prescher had to retire early for political reasons - his son had applied for an exit visa . To protect his employees, he gave health reasons and only spoke about the truth about his departure after 1989.

Prescher was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel on November 26, 1993 for his services to Agricola research . On December 4, 1995, he was honored with the Federal Cross of Merit.

From his marriage to Charlotte, b. Lehnert, came out two children.

Hans Prescher died on September 29, 1996 in Dresden of a heart attack and was buried in the old Annenfriedhof .  

Publications (selection)

As an author

  • The Niederschöna layers of the Saxon chalk (dissertation, 1954)
  • Sediment petrographic investigations of Oberturon sandstones in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains (1954) ( urn : nbn: de: bsz: 14-db-id167924518X5 )
  • Geology of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains (1959)
  • Goethe's collections of mineralogy, geology and paleontology (1978)
  • Contributions to the history of mineral collections and mining in the 16th and early 17th centuries (1980)
  • Georgius Agricola. Personality and Work for the Mining and Metallurgy of the 16th Century (1985)
  • Georgius Agricola - his time and its traces (1994)
  • Lazarus Ercker  : (1528/30 - 1594); Taster, mountain and coin master in Saxony, Braunschweig and Bohemia (1994)
  • Half a millennium of geoscientists from and in Saxony (1998)

As editor

  • Georgius Agricola : Selected Works (12 volumes, 1956–1996, Latin-German translations: inter alia Georg Fraustadt )
  • Geologists of Goethe's time (1981)
  • Life and Work of German Geologists in the 18th and 19th Centuries (1985)
  • Evidence of the geological history of Saxony (1987)

literature

  • Hans Prescher memorial volume . Dresden, 1998. Treatises of the State Museum for Mineralogy and Geology in Dresden . Vol. 43/44
  • Martin Guntau :  Prescher, Clemens Richard Hans . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  • Hans Peter Mibus: In memory of Hans Prescher. Bulletin 4 of the Saxon Switzerland Working Group in the Saxon Heritage Protection Association. Pirna 2006, p. 4f.
  • Otfried Wagenbreth : Dr. sc. nat. Dr. phil. hc. Hans Prescher - deceased . In: Journal for friends and sponsors of the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg . 3 / 1994-96 / H. 1/2, pp. 87-88

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerhard Mathé: Honorary doctorate for Dr. Hans Prescher . In: Sächsische Heimatblätter . 40/1994, p. 55
  2. ↑ Christel Hebig: Federal Cross of Merit for Dr. sc.nat. Dr. phil.hc Hans Prescher , Dresden. In: News sheet on the history of geosciences . 5/1995, p. 75

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Prescher, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prescher, Clemens Richard Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geologist and museum director
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Strehla
DATE OF DEATH September 29, 1996
Place of death Dresden