Illa Martin

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Illa Martin, 1986

Illa Martin , née Sybilla Kesselburg (born February 25, 1900 in Viersen ; † August 6, 1988 there ) was a German dendrologist , botanist , conservationist and dentist .

Life

Illa Martin was the daughter of a brewery owner in Viersen. She studied dentistry in Bonn, Würzburg and Freiburg and in 1935 married the dentist Ernst J. Martin , with whom she opened a joint practice in Kaldenkirchen .

She brought botanical knowledge and interests with her from her parents' home. Both spouses began to pursue their dendrological inclinations during the Second World War . Her husband initiated the reforestation of the Kaldenkirchen border forest , which burned down in 1947 .

Entrance area of ​​the Sequoia farm

In 1951 the Martin couple founded the Kaldenkirchen Sequoia farm . It had seeds from the giant sequoia tree ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ) sent from the USA . As early as 1953, 1500 two-year-old specimens of the giant sequoia were cared for alongside coastal redwoods ( Sequoia sempervirens ) and other species with the support of the German Research Foundation . One of the research objectives was to examine the possibilities for introducing these trees into German forestry. Illa Martin tried to allow a correspondingly diverse flora to thrive in the bottom area of ​​the trees, for example the American hazel root Asarum caudatum below the giant sequoia trees. Today the Sequoia farm is a well-known arboretum with over 600 types of wood and contains the Sequoia sempervirens grove, which was created in 1953, in addition to the Sequoia sempervirens occurrence in the Burgholz state forest, one of the very few larger coast redwoods north of the Alps.

After the death of her husband in 1967, Illa Martin was unable to continue the sequoia farm economically, which is why she sold the premises with buildings to the Rhineland University of Education (today: University of Cologne ) at the end of 1969 ; meanwhile, the site is owned by Stadtwerke Nettetal . She now devoted herself entirely to dendrological research, wrote three basic tree monographs and spoke out in many areas of nature conservation. She was a member of the German Dendrology Society , gave courses on the sequoia farm and was a permanent council member of the International Dendrology Society (London) for many years .

As a botanist of the flora of the Lower Rhine, Illa Martin discovered the gold sleeping moss ( Hypnum imponens ) in the Brachter Heidemooren, which only occurs on the Lower Rhine in the drifting sand dune landscape of the German-Dutch border area , which was then declared a nature reserve in 1986. A form of the native wild strawberry with white fruits that she discovered is listed as Fragaria vesca Illa Martin . The city of Nettetal named a path in the Kaldenkirchen border forest, the "Dr.-Martin-Weg", after the Martin couple in 1983.

The couple had two sons and a daughter, including the author and songwriter Erik Martin and the lawyer and expert Helge Breloer .

Fonts

In addition to numerous specialist articles, Illa Martin published three extensive monographs in the yearbooks Mitteilungen der Deutschen Dendrologische Gesellschaft :

  • Cultivation and cultivation of Nothofagus in Germany . In: Volume 70, pp. 147-166. Ulmer. Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-8001-8302-1
  • The reintroduction of the sequoia tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum) into German forestry . In: Volume 75, pp. 57-75. Ulmer. Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8001-8308-0
  • The coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and its cultivation in Germany . In: Volume 77, pp. 57-104. Ulmer. Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-8001-8310-2

Awards

literature

  • Horst Bartels: Dr. Illa Martin . In: Communications of the Dendrological Society . Vol. 72, Ulmer, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-8001-8305-6
  • Arthur Lange: Science as a hobbyhorse. Lay researchers - their achievements and their science . Holsten. Hamburg 1967
  • Herbert Hubatsch: From the Sequoia farm to the biological station . In: Heimatbuch des Kreis Kempen-Krefeld . Kempen 1973
  • Hans Huth: Sequoias in Germany . In: Journal of Forest History , Volume 3, July 1976. Durham (USA), ISSN  0094-5080
  • HW Schmitz: Dr. Illa Martin passed away . In: Der Niederrhein , Krefeld, No. 4 1988
  • "Nature's Advocate". Dr. Illa Martin died in Viersen . In: Grenzland-Nachrichten of August 11, 1988

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herbert Hubatsch: Ernst Martin . In: Der Niederrhein , issue 3, 1967
  2. ^ Herbert Hubatsch: From the Sequoia farm to the biological station . In: Heimatbuch des Kreis Kempen-Krefeld . Kempen 1973, p. 114
  3. ↑ Horst Bartels: Dr. Illa Martin . In: Messages from the DDG . Volume 79 (1990)
  4. ↑ Ulrich W. Abts: About the first discovery of the gold sleeping moss (Hypnum imponens Hedw.) On the Lower Rhine. A posthumous tribute to the botanical merits of Dr. Illa Martin . In: Der Niederrhein , Krefeld, ISSN  0342-5673 , April 2012 edition, pages 38-61
  5. ↑ Rheinische Post of April 30, 1983
  6. ↑ Horst Bartels: Honors. Dr. Illa Martin . In: Communications of the German Dendrological Society . Volume No. 75, 1984
personal data
SURNAME Martin, Illa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Martin, Sybilla; Kesselburg, Sybilla (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German dendrologist, conservationist and dentist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Viersen
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1988
Place of death Viersen