Herbert Kuntze

Herbert Kuntze (born February 8, 1930 in Delitzsch , Saxony , † May 29, 1995 in Bremen ) was a German soil scientist .

Live and act

Kuntze studied agriculture at the University of Göttingen since 1951 and received his doctorate there in 1956 in the field of soil science with a dissertation on the structure and properties of urea condensates . He then worked as a scientific assistant at the grassland training institute and marching test station in Infeld near Nordenham. Here he set up a soil physics laboratory and mainly dealt with issues of soil water balance and soil structure . The result of this research was the publication “ The Marshes - Heavy Soils in Agricultural Evolution. Use and improvement possibilities of difficult locations ”, with which he habilitated in 1965 at the University of Göttingen for the subject“ Soil and regional culture ”.

From Infeld in 1964, Kuntze moved to the peat research station in Bremen as head of department and deputy director . In 1969 this station was incorporated into the Lower Saxony State Office for Soil Research. Under the new name of the “Soil Technology Institute”, Kuntze headed this research facility as director from 1969 until his retirement in February 1995. During this time, he increasingly worked on issues of soil and water protection in connection with current problems of nature and landscape protection . Since 1965 he has given regular lectures on "Soil and Regional Culture" at the University of Göttingen. In 1970 he was awarded the title of adjunct professor. Until 1995 he had supervised 66 diploma theses at the Göttingen Institute for Soil Science and led 21 doctoral students to doctorate.

Kuntze published over 400 articles in scientific and practical journals. He was also the author or co-author of several books. The book " Bodenkunde " (1969), edited by him in charge, should be emphasized , the fifth edition of which was published in 1994 in collaboration with G. Roeschmann and G. Schwertfeger. Since 1972 Kuntze has been co-editor and since 1974 editor-in-chief of the magazine for " Kulturtechnik und Flurbereinigung " (since 1989: "Zeitschrift für Kulturtechnik und Landentwicklung").

For more than twenty years, Kuntze was deputy chairman of the committee for regional culture of the German Agricultural Society . For this committed activity, he was awarded the Max Eyth silver medal in 1982. He made great contributions to the German Soil Science Society . As its vice-president (1982–1985) and as its president (1986–1993), he made a lasting contribution to shaping the profile of this scientific society.

Major works

• The marshes - heavy soils in agricultural evolution. Opportunities to use and improve difficult locations . Paul Parey, Berlin 1965 = Habil.-Schr. Univ. Goettingen
• Soil science (with Werner Baden, Johannes Niemann, Georg Schwerdtfeger and F.-J. Vollmer). Eugen Ulmer Stuttgart 1969; 2. completely reworked. Ed. Ibid. 1981 = Uni-Taschenbuch Bd. 1106; 3. verb. Ed. 1983; 4th ext. u. rework. Edition ibid. 1988; 5. rework. u. exp. Ed. (With Günter Roeschmann and Georg Schwerdtfeger) ibid. 1994. = UTB für Wissenschaft Vol. 8076.

literature

• KH Hartge: Herbert Kuntze 60 years . In: Zeitschrift für Kulturtechnik und Landentwicklung Vol. 31, 1990, pp. 65–66 (with picture).
• H.-P. Blume and B. Scheffer: Professor Dr. Herbert Kuntze on completing his 65th year of life . In: Journal for Plant Nutrition and Soil Science Vol. 158, 1995, pp. 1–2 (with picture).
• R. Eggelsmann: Prof. Dr. Herbert Kuntze retired . In: Wasser und Boden Vol. 47, 1995, H. 4, pp. 60-61 (with picture).
• D. von Treichel and B. Scheffer: Publications by Prof. Dr. Herbert Kuntze . Published by the Lower Saxony State Office for Soil Research. Bremen 1995.
• Editing community and publisher: Herbert Kuntze. * February 8, 1930 † May 29, 1995 . In: Zeitschrift für Kulturtechnik und Landentwicklung Vol. 36, 1995, pp. 241–242 (with picture).

Web links

• Literature by and about Herbert Kuntze in the catalog of the German National Library