Institute for Lake Research

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ISF new building on Argenweg
Former ISF building in Untere Seestrasse

The State Institute for Lake Research (ISF), based in Langenargen in the Lake Constance district, is an institute of the State Institute for the Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg (LUBW).

history

It was founded in 1919 as an institute for Lake Constance research in the city of Constance ( Max Auerbach Institute). After the founding of the Association for Lake Research and Lake Management , the institute was opened on September 16, 1920 in a former silk spinning mill, and in 1925 the new building in Langenargen on Untere Seestrasse moved into. It was initially headed by Professor Reinhard Demoll from Munich .

Time in the Kaiser Wilhelm Society

The institute was taken over in 1936 as the Institute for Lake Research and Lake Management under the administration of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (KWG). The chairman of the board of trustees was Eugen Kauffmann , who was also chairman of the association that had previously supported the institute. The institute should work closely with the "Hydrobiological Institute of the KWG" in Plön. The acting head of the institute was the limnologist Hans-Joachim Elster , and six scientists worked at the institute. In the years 1937/1938 the institute recorded 370 visitors for study or further training purposes, in the following year there were 494 visitors. In 1938, the responsible ministry considered incorporating it into the “Reichsanstalt für Fischerei”, which the KWG refused, since the work of the institute was already geared towards the goals of the four-year plan. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, almost all institute employees were drafted into the Wehrmacht . As of May 1940, the biologist Max Hartmann (KWI for Biology) was given leave of absence from the institute for around two years. Until the end of the Second World War, work was only possible to a limited extent. From 1945 the biologist Joachim Hämmerling was the head of the institute on behalf of Eugen Kauffmann, from 1946 Wilhelm Nümann worked at the institute, who later became acting head of the institute. In 1949, due to financial cuts, the institute could not be taken over into the newly founded Max Planck Society , which is de facto the successor to the KWG. In 1950, the Max Planck Society joined the association that was responsible for the institute.

History after 1950

After nationalization in 1960, the Konstanz and Langenargen institutes were merged ten years later. Another five years later, the State Institute for Environmental Protection (LfU) Baden-Württemberg was founded; since then the ISF has belonged to the LfU. At the end of September 2000, we moved into the new building on Argenweg near the Langenargen yacht harbor.

Research focus

Since its foundation, the Institute for Lake Research has dealt with limnology and water protection of Lake Constance and the more than 4000 ponds and lakes in Baden-Württemberg . It is divided into three specialist areas that work together on an interdisciplinary basis:

Again and again new challenges arose. In the 1950s, for example, the rapid increase in the concentration of phosphorus in the lake bothered the ecosystem and kept scientists busy. In the meantime, those responsible have managed to stop the increasing eutrophication of the lake and initiate a turnaround. Now the phosphorus concentration corresponds again to that of a pre-Alpine lake. Today, however, topics such as micropollutants and newcomers to the lake, the neozoa , or the effects of climate change on processes in the lake are in the foreground of the research work. Further efforts are being made to improve the bank and shallow water zone. Since 2013, the institute has been involved in the Tiefenschiefe project , the high-resolution measurement of Lake Constance for a detailed 3D model of the lake basin.

credentials

literature

  • Herbert Löffler, Helmut Müller and Klaus Zintz: Observe, evaluate, advise - The Institute for Lake Research, Langenargen . Bodensee Medienzentrum, Tettnang 2017 ( lubw.de [PDF; 7.5 MB ]).
  • Ernst Scheffelt: The Institute for Lake Research and Lake Management in Langenargen , in: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 53rd year 1924, pp. 27–34 ( digitized version )
  • Eckart Henning , Marion Kazemi : Institute for Lake Research and Lake Management (the Kaiser Wilhelm Society) (BMS) in: Manual for the history of the institute of the Kaiser Wilhelm / Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science 1911–2011 - data and sources , Berlin 2016, 2 volumes, volume 2: Institutes and research centers M – Z ( online, PDF, 75 MB ) Pages 1464–1467 (chronology of the institute)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Geiling: Focus on environmental change at Lake Constance . In: Südkurier of September 24, 2010.
  2. ↑ Information on the depth of field project

Web links

Commons : Institute for Lake Research  - Collection of images, videos and audio files


Coordinates: 47 ° 35 '24.6 "  N , 9 ° 33' 9.6"  E