Hermann Pohle (zoologist)

Hermann Pohle (born September 28, 1892 in Berlin , † May 6, 1982 in Mering ) was a German zoologist specializing in mammalogy (mammal studies).

Live and act

Pohle studied biology, chemistry and physics. During his studies he already worked as a volunteer in the Zoological Museum in the Museum of Natural History at Berlin University. During the First World War he worked at various schools as an assistant war teacher. In 1920 he received his doctorate with a thesis on the tribal history of the otters .

He then held various positions in the Berlin Natural History Museum and from 1926 became head of the mammal department there. Together with Max Hilzheimer , Ludwig Heck and Kurt Ohnesorge, he founded the German Society for Mammal Studies in 1926 . He was also secretary of the International Society for the Conservation of the European bison . On this page he kept in close contact with internationally known experts in zoology such as Erna Mohr , Erwin Stresemann , Oscar Neumann and the collector and manufacturer Julius Riemer (whose obituary he wrote in 1958).

Due to statements critical of the system after the National Socialists came to power, he was denounced by a colleague and as a result the authorities asked to prove the “Aryan” ancestry of his family. He did not succeed in this in the case of his mother and her father, and Pohle's biological father was also unknown (Pohle was born out of wedlock). As a result, he was dismissed from the museum service in 1933 without compensation or pension entitlements. With the support of well-known scientists (including Walter Arndt, who was later murdered by the Nazis ), he was able to resume his service in the museum in 1937, but was under special observation. In 1951 Pohle was arrested for transferring books from the GDR to West Berlin. After his release from prison he moved to West Berlin, where he worked as a teacher.

From 1965 to 1967 and 1971 to 1973 he was chairman of the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory . In 1972 he received the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class.

In 1981 he moved to southern Germany, where he died in 1982.

Pohles hand comes from numerous specialist publications, especially in the field of mammalogy. He edited the mammal journal for many years . Since 1924 Pohle was a member of the Masovia Hunting Corps in Berlin .

Fonts (selection)

• Natural history archive . Ed .: Embrik Strand. 85th year, department A (original work), booklet 9. Nicolai, Berlin 1919, p. 1-246 ( archive.org ).
• 13.) Wilhelm Leche's writings . In: Journal of Mammals . tape 2 . Berlin 1927, p. 149-155 ( archive.org ).
• Max Hilzheimer † (1877-1947) . In: Journal of Mammals . tape 19 , Issue 2. The Society, Berlin July 31, 1954, p. 66–81 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - commemorative speech given October 1, 1951).

literature

• Ralf Angst: Hermann Pohle's obituary. In: Carolinea. Volume 42, 1981, p. 138.
• Mammal history messages 1953. 1: Hermann Pohle on his 60th birthday. P. 33.
• Announcements of the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory 1967. Volume 1: Hermann Pohle on his 75th birthday. Pp. 159-165.
• Michael Ohl: Otto Schulz-Kampfhenkel as a zoologist and animal catcher. In: Sören Flachowsky (Ed.): From the Amazon to the Eastern Front. 2011: p. 140 f.
• Rainer Hutterer : Berlin and the German Society for Mammal Studies. In: Bongo. 31, Berlin 2001, pp. 97-120.