Hermann Count Hatzfeldt

Hermann Maria Carl August Graf von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg-Dönhoff (born June 17, 1941 in Königsberg , East Prussia ) is a German forester , largest private forest owner in Rhineland-Palatinate and Brandenburg , author and publisher of environmental policy and " Eco-Manager of the Year 1998".

Origin, profession and education

Hermann Graf von Dönhoff was born in East Prussia as the son of Heinrich Botho Graf von Dönhoff (1899–1942) from Friedrichstein and his wife Dorothea, b. Countess von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg, born. Her brother was the last Prince Hatzfeldt -Wildenburg, whose heiress, his other sister Ursula, adopted her nephew Hermann Dönhoff and in 1969 left him the property of her family in Wildenburger Land in the northeast of Rhineland-Palatinate . Today Hatzfeldt is the owner of one of the largest private forest companies in Germany.

After completing his degree in economics with a “ Master of Economics (MA) ” at Princeton University (USA), Hatzfeldt began his career as a program assistant at the Ford Foundation in Bangkok ( Thailand ). In 1970 he returned to Germany and since then, as heir to the family estate and owner of a forest (7,500 hectares ) around Wissen in Rhineland-Palatinate and since 2001 a second (6,500 hectare) in Brandenburg near Massow near Halbe , has been running the family business of "Hatzfeldt -Wildenburg'schen Forstverwaltung “with seat at Schönstein Castle near Wissen an der Sieg in ( Altenkirchen district (Westerwald) ). The Crottorf Castle in Friesenhagen is his residence . There, on March 11, 2002, Hatzfeld's aunt, the publicist Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, died .

The von Hatzfeldt family , originally from the upper Edertal and first mentioned in a document in 1139, received the empire-free dominion of Wildenburger Land , located between Siegerland , Bergisches Land and Westerwald , in 1420 . From the inheritance of the Lords of Seelbach , the neighboring Crottorf Castle and land also fell to the Hatzfeldt family in 1563 . Schönstein Castle, the center of the Cologne-Electoral subordination of the same name since the 13th century , became the property of the family in 1589 and has been the seat of the Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg administration since 1912.

voluntary work

As a committed environmentalist , Hatzfeldt has held numerous national and international honorary posts since 1978, some of which he still holds today:

• Member of the advisory board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (1973–1990), Bonn / Königswinter , and its deputy chairman (1987–1990)
• Director of the " Öko-Institut ", Freiburg im Breisgau (1979–1982)
• Member of "ECOROPA", Paris & Zurich (since 1980)
• Advisory Board of the "Transnational Institute", Amsterdam (since 1984)
• Board Member of the "HKH Foundation", New York City (since 1986)
• Advisory board of the " Heinrich Böll Foundation ", Cologne (1988–1996)
• Chairman of the " Working Group on Natural Forest Management " (ANW), Rhineland-Palatinate regional group (1991–2000)
• Curator of the " Schweisfurth Foundation ", Munich (1992–2001)
• Curator of the " Öko-Institut ", Freiburg im Breisgau & Darmstadt (1994–2010)
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the " World Wide Fund For Nature " (WWF), Frankfurt am Main (1998–2008)
• Chairman of the "Working Group Germany" in the " Forest Stewardship Council " (FSC) (1998–2007)
• Member of the "MAB National Committee" (MAB = "Man and the Biosphere", a UNESCO program ) (1999–2011)
• Member of the German " Council for Sustainable Development " (2003–2007)
• Chairman of the " Marion Gräfin Dönhoff Foundation" (since 2002)

Publications

Hatzfeldt has published a number of books on the topics of energy policy , forest dieback and ecological forestry - some with his own contributions - as editor, including:

• The Gorleben Report. Uncertainty and Hazards of Nuclear Disposal. Excerpts from the report and the hearing of the Lower Saxony state government , fischer alternative no. 4031, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-596-24031-X .
• Time to rethink! Criticism of v. Weizsäcker's atomic theses , Rowohlt aktuell No. 4521, 1980, ISBN 3499145219 and ISBN 978-3499145216 .
• Coal. Concepts of an environmentally friendly use. A transition strategy for the ecological movement , fischer alternativ 4071, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-596-24071-9 .
• Is the forest dying? Energy policy requirements and consequences . In: Alternative Concepts 41, Verlag CF Müller, Karlsruhe 1982, ISBN 3-7880-9670-5 .
• Pollution of the forest - forest consequences , Paul Parey Verlag, Hamburg / Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-490-23816-8 .
• The forest is dying! Forest consequences . In: Alternative Concepts 46, Verlag CF Müller, Karlsruhe 1984, ISBN 3-7880-9691-8 .
• Ecological forest management. Basics - Aspects - Examples , In: Alternative Concepts 88, Verlag CF Müller, Heidelberg 1995, ISBN 3-7880-9870-8 .

Honors

As a committed environmentalist, he was named “ Eco Manager of the Year ” in 1998 by the environmental foundation WWF and the business magazine “ Capital ” and received the “WWF Special Prize”. The award is given to entrepreneurs who take ecological, economic and social issues into account in their entrepreneurial activities.

Movie

• The forest counts and the storm. The von Hatzfeldt family reinvents their forest. Documentary, Germany, 2015, 29:52 min., Script and direction: Henriette von Hellborn, production: SWR , series: made in Südwest , first broadcast: February 3, 2016 on SWR, synopsis by SWR, online video available until 7. August 2019.

Web links

• Literature by and about Hermann Graf Hatzfeldt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature list in the online catalog of the Berlin State Library
• Website of the Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg forest administration