Johannes Gebbing

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Memorial plaque for Johannes Gebbing in the aquarium of the Leipzig Zoo, by Felix Pfeifer

Johannes Gebbing (born October 10, 1874 in Bocholt , † August 20, 1958 in Bad Reichenhall ) was a German zoologist. He was director of the Leipzig Zoo for 25 years .

Life

Gebbing studied natural sciences at the universities in Berlin, Munich and Leipzig. After completing his studies, he worked as a research assistant for Erich von Drygalski . Gebbing took over the hydrochemical investigations of the deep sea as part of the evaluation of Drygalski's Gauss expedition .

Sculpture Jason by Walter Lenck , one of the disputed sculptures

In 1909 he accepted a call to the Leipzig Zoo and ran this facility until 1934, when he was 60 years old. Gebbing succeeded the late zoo founder Ernst Pinkert , an innkeeper. Under Gebbing, an aquarium was opened to the public in 1910 and the adjacent terrarium in 1913. During the 1st World War, to which the zoo director Gebbing was drafted, the zoo visibly fell into disrepair. In order to open up new sources of income, the zoo began to lend animals to film productions in 1920, in which Gebbing played as a confidante himself. In addition, the zoo was expanded considerably from three to 12.5 hectares in its era. Typical clinker buildings such as the pachyderm house or the distinctive Bear Castle were built today for the Leipzig Zoo.

After his retirement, Gebbing continued to live in Saxony. After the end of the war, he initially supported his successor Karl Max Schneider in rebuilding the zoo before moving to Bavaria. Gebbing was married to Herbertine Meyer, they had their son Herbert, born in 1925.

From 2015 to 2019 there was a dispute over four sculptures in Leipzig Zoo, which Gebbing had allegedly acquired in the 1930s and had placed in the zoo. A son of Gebbing unsuccessfully reclaimed this from the Leipzig Zoo in his capacity as heir. Both the Leipzig Regional Court and the Dresden Higher Regional Court decided against the plaintiff. Gebbing withdrew an initial complaint against the non-admission of the appeal to the Federal Court of Justice .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Son of the former director Gebbing asks for sculptures from the Leipzig Zoo. In: lvz.de. January 9, 2018, accessed October 16, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Leipzig Zoo is allowed to keep valuable sculptures permanently. In: lvz.de. August 22, 2019, accessed October 16, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Gebbing, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Bocholt
DATE OF DEATH 20th August 1958
Place of death Bad Reichenhall