Hubert caps

Hubert Kappen (born December 26, 1878 in Münster , † December 13, 1949 in Bonn ) was a German agricultural chemist.

Kappen studied chemistry at the University of Münster . During his studies he became a member of the Borussia Münster country team in 1898/99 . He received his doctorate in 1901 at the University of Rostock and then worked at various agricultural test stations and in laboratories in the chemical industry. In 1913 he completed his habilitation at the University of Jena with the thesis The catalysis of cyanamide and its importance for agriculture in the field of agricultural chemistry. From 1918 to 1920 he taught as a professor at the Tetschen-Liebwerd Agricultural University . In 1920 he accepted an appointment as full professor and director of the Agricultural Chemistry Institute at the Agricultural University of Bonn-Poppelsdorf . Here he worked until his retirement in 1948. However, due to a delay in filling his chair, he continued lecturing until his death.

Kappen devoted a large part of his research to the study of soil acidity . Above all, he examined the connections between soil acidification and fertilization measures. His monograph Die Bodenazidität , published in 1929 , in which he tackled the problem of soil acidification a. a. tried to explain with theories from colloid chemistry , brought him high international reputation. In numerous studies he dealt with the effects of lime fertilizers, especially blast furnace slag (slag). In this industrial "waste product", he saw an ideal fertilizer to improve the soil fertility of the arable land.

In 1948, the Justus Liebig University in Giessen awarded him an honorary doctorate for his scientific achievements .

Works

• The cyanamide catalysis and its importance for agriculture . Phil. Habil.-Schr. Jena 1913.
• The soil acidity. Represented according to the principles of agricultural chemistry . Springer-Verlag Berlin 1929.
• The blast furnace slag (cottage lime) as a means of improving the soil and increasing harvests . Publisher Paul Parey Berlin and Hamburg 1950.

literature

• Dr. G.-B .: Professor Dr. Caps † . In: Neue Mitteilungen für die Landwirtschaft Vol. 5, 1950, p. 77 (with picture).
• Hermann Kick: On the history of agricultural chemistry in Bonn . In: 150 Years of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn 1818-1968. Bonn scholars. Contributions to the history of science in Bonn. Agricultural Sciences. Bonn 1971, pp. 63-70.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Berthold Ohm and Alfred Philipp (eds.): Directory of addresses of the old men of the German Landsmannschaft. Part 1. Hamburg 1932, p. 42.