Heinrich Gechter

Heinrich Gechter (born May 12, 1873 in Rotenburg (Wümme) , † March 11,  1943 in Hamburg ) was a teacher in Hamburg and an ornithologist .

Life

School in Gechter's time (left) and today's school (right).

Gechter was a teacher on the island and Hamburg exclave Neuwerk from 1902 to 1909 and later at the girls' school at Barmbecker Strasse 30 in Hamburg. During his time at Neuwerk, he worked in the old flower keeper's house next to the (small) lighthouse at the time, wrote the first travel guide for the island and, after 1909, devoted himself especially to the islands of Neuwerk and Scharhörn.

During his time as a teacher at Neuwerk, Gechter extensively documented the bird world in Neuwerk, and in his first year he was able to identify nesting sandwich terns on Scharhörnsand . Before him, Ernst Hartert reported for the first time in 1884 about the special features of this extensive mudflat area.

He later became involved in the "Jordsand Association for the Establishment of Bird Sanctuaries on the German Coasts" , where he was temporarily 2nd Chairman, and in the school association of the girls' school at Barmbecker Straße 30.

In the wake of the First World War , Gechter initiated the use of the Neuwerker Tower in 1920 as a school camp for students from Winterhude . From 1924 onwards, they moved to the attic of the state barn on the (large) tower and from 1933 onwards the use of parts of the ground floor was extended. This meant that up to 400 students came to the school camp at the tower every year.

Creation of the island of Scharhörn

Gechter is often mentioned with his efforts to establish the Scharhörn bird sanctuary and the first plantings in connection with the creation of the actual Scharhörn island . In 1926 he discovered the first vegetation on Scharhörn and, through press and lobbying work, managed to get Hamburg to finance “the increase and planting of the Scharhörn sand to support nature”. From 1927 systematic and extensive work with sand trap fences and later also planting, sowing and harvesting beach rye and other dune grasses took place. For this purpose, building sheds were built from 1929 to accommodate the labor service of the Cuxhaven hydraulic engineering office. By the end of the 1930s, an island was created that has been documented with a size between 4 and 12 hectares.

Remarks

1. ^ Heinrich Gechter: Hamburgisches Nordsee-Insel-Bad Neuwerk: The visitors Neuwerk - primarily the residents of Hamburg - to the knowledge of the island. Supply, 1906.
2. ^ Heinrich Gechter: Bird life and winter hunting on the island of Neuwerk. In: sea ​​birds. Jordsand Association for the Protection of Sea Birds and Nature eV 29, 4, Dec 2008, pp. 86–90. (First published in the "Cuxhavener Zeitung" on January 7, 1932)
3. ^ Heinrich Gechter: Winter birds observed on the North Sea island of Neuwerk in the winter of 1903/04, taking into account the weather phenomena. In: Ornithological monthly. Volume 30, year 1909, p. 91ff. P. 143ff. P. 168ff.
4. ^ Heinrich Gechter: Observed birds on the Hamburg North Sea island Neuwerk with consideration of the weather conditions. In: Ornithological monthly. Volume 34, year 1909, p. 295ff. P. 313ff. P. 345ff.
5. ↑ Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park: Association Jordsand eV
6. ^ Heinrich Gechter: Neuwerk. Island and school home. The school association Ferienheim Neuwerk of the girls' school Barmbecker Straße 30 for the best of children in need of relaxation. 1928.
7. ^ Armin Clasen: The Neuwerk school home. In: A tower and its island - monograph of the North Sea island of Neuwerk. 1952, p. 159ff.
8. ^ Report on the annual meeting of the "Jordsand Association for the Establishment of Bird Sanctuaries on the German Coasts", November 9, 1911, Hamburg Gechter proposes the Scharhörn bird sanctuary

literature

• Ludwig Gebhardt: The ornithologists of Central Europe: a reference work, Brühlscher Verlag, Berlin, 1964, p. 108.