Karl Faust (botanist)

Karl Faust

Karl Faust (sometimes also known as Spanish: Carlos Faust or katal .: Carles Faust ) (born September 10, 1874 in Hadamar , † April 24, 1952 in Blanes on the Costa Brava ) was a German botanist .

The German businessman and patron of young scientist Karl Faust settled in Catalonia in 1897 . Although his interest in science was evident from a young age, his parents thought it better that he learn a commercial profession so that he could quickly make a living and they could look after his siblings. Life took him to Barcelona , where he first worked for the Körting brothers, but later went into business for himself. It was only after his 50th birthday that he dared to dig out his childhood dream and devote his life to science from then on. He invested his fortune in the construction of a botanical garden , which also served as a research and teaching center for scientists from Central and Northern Europe. In Blanes they found the best conditions to be able to research plants that only thrive in a dry, tropical climate. In their home countries this was only possible in greenhouses.

He baptized his garden with the name Marimurtra, a combination of murtra , the Catalan name for myrtle , a plant typical of the Mediterranean region, and mar , referring to the Mediterranean that shimmers at the foot of the garden. A patronage takes care of the private foundation and has been responsible for the continuity of his unselfish project since his death.

biography

Childhood and youth

Karl Faust was in a family of so-called educated classes born, a term that refers to a social class that in Germany not least was due to rapid urban development and a new liberal government. It was an educated and wealthy class without a noble background, whose endeavor was to exert influence in state affairs. In doing so, they made use of the position in society that had been achieved through well-founded education - humanism, science and literature - which was particularly important in areas such as building infrastructure, expanding trade and industrialization, and establishing state institutions. For this reason, Faust was also sent to the Bockenheimer Realschule, a vocational secondary school with a good level of education, where he was able to acquire a good knowledge of science and languages ​​by the time he graduated from secondary school.

Shortly after graduating from school, he began to work as an apprentice in the Besthorn trading company in Frankfurt. He stayed there until he was ordered to do military service. He combined his time in military service with a job in the administration of the grain brandy distillery and liqueur and vinegar factory of Friedrich Meckel in Mühlheim (where he did his military service). Even if he hated his time in the military, he was able to gain relevant professional experience through his work in the distillery . It was also thanks to his work that he was allowed to live outside the barracks.

In the summer of 1897, shortly after he had completed his commercial training at a school in Frankfurt, an opportunity was placed in his lap that he could not simply ignore: Mr. Pütz, a friend of his father's, offered him a job in the new branch that the company Gebrüder Körting from Hanover wanted to open in Barcelona.

Arrival in Barcelona

Gebrüder Körting specialized in the sale of valves, pipes, taps, measuring devices for liquids and the first rudimentary heating and ventilation systems, whereby the company played a leading role in the field of technological development that has changed rapidly since the Second Industrial Revolution. Faust found it easy to master the workflows of his new job and after just a few years he was appointed managing director of the company's Spanish branch.

Karl Faust soon succumbed to the special charm of his host country, where he believed he recognized the land of the blossoming golden orange trees, which is spoken about in the work of Wilhelm Meister's apprenticeship, which he admired so deeply, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He soon made friends, was professionally successful and began to put down roots in his new home. At some point these were so deep that he later classified himself more as a Catalan than a German. He was enthusiastic about the social and cultural life of Barcelona and became a leading member of numerous German cultural associations represented in the city. Later he also joined national clubs and associations, such as the swimming club Club Natación Barcelona (there he was one of the first members and later also briefly on the board), the Catalan hiking club, the Futbol Club Barcelona , the chamber music club and the equestrian association Círculo Ecuestre . Everywhere he got to know outstanding personalities from the large German colony in Catalonia and the local sports and cultural scene. It soon developed into a solid group of friends. They met in the apartment he had rented on Calle Gran de Gràcia - at that time still Calle Salmerón - in Barcelona and spent humorous evenings with musical and literary exchanges. The friendship with the violinist Màrius Mateo, the water polo player and lawyer Ricardo Luján, the Canarian poet Néstor Martín Fernández de la Torre and the diplomat Rafael Maspons de Grassot was particularly important for Faust.

Faust and Kammann

A series of differences of opinion with the management of Körting led Faust to start thinking about setting up his own company in 1908. In the meantime he got to know Wilhelm Kammann, a German businessman whom he had met while working at Körting. The somewhat younger compatriot also had the desire to start his own business. They first registered their company in Düsseldorf (Germany) and later in Spain. The company "Faust y Kammann" still exists today.

Both recognized the industrial potential of Catalonia and decided to specialize with their business in an area that they both had a good command of: construction and spare parts as well as machines and industrial plants. They shared the tasks in the company. Faust took care of the administration, while Kammann took over business trips and was responsible for contact with suppliers and customers. Originally, they only wanted to concentrate on buying and selling machines and industrial accessories such as pipes and metal parts. However, they quickly recognized the good business opportunities and expanded their range to include valves, taps, heating systems, reciprocators, steam boilers and water pumps. In contrast to what was customary at the time, they included operating and assembly instructions as well as safety recommendations to prevent accidents with their goods. They were way ahead of their time.

Until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the company grew at a very good pace. Although Spain's neutral stance at the time favored both the manufacture and export of all kinds of products to countries at war, it meant the opposite for Faust and Kammann. Their business focus was exactly the other way around, and the war brought all branches of industry to a standstill that had nothing to do with the manufacture of war material. As a result, their inventory was very limited for the next four years. Not to mention the difficult communication options and the limited movement of goods during this time. Orders usually didn't even arrive in Barcelona. The company was forced to look for new suppliers and to take a giant step forward in terms of the company's economic strength and material capacity: first direct contacts were made in the United States and the share capital increased. Having overcome this setback, a new phase of growth began, which was so resounding that the company was able to open branches in Valencia, Seville, Madrid and Bilbao. At the same time, however, disagreements arose between business partners, which peaked in 1925. Tired of business life, overwhelmed by the circumstances or simply because the moment had come for him to devote himself body and soul to his passion - his real motivation is not known - in any case, the fact is that Faust Kammann communicated his wish for a project to want to implement that had been bothering him for a long time: the design of a botanical garden on the Costa Brava. A few years earlier he had already started buying up land and commissioned the design of a residential building. Now the moment had finally come for him to start designing the garden as soon as possible. So he asked his partner to have the company "Faust y Kammann" evaluated economically and asked him whether he would be willing to continue the business on his own. Kammann agreed. However, it wasn't that easy after all and Faust's final exit from the company was delayed until the early 1940s.

Karl Faust with Solé i Pla

The vision of a botanical garden

Between 1925 and 1927, Faust gradually gave up his hitherto most important obligations and began to design the botanical garden. Already during his first years in Spain, when he explored the area on foot, made friends and got to know the country, he became aware of the Costa Blanca and especially the fishing village of Blanes. In 1918 he had started to buy the first plots of land completely overgrown with shrub heather on a steep slope above the sea. This stretch of land between the “Sant Francesc” monastery and the “Sa Forcanera” bay had somehow particularly taken hold of him.

He spared no expense or effort to make his dream a reality. The construction of the residential building and the library had already begun in 1921 (a library whose holdings he continuously expanded to include further modern and antiquarian works until his death). Both buildings were designed by the renowned architect Josep Goday, who was also responsible for the architectural design of the garden. One of the highlights was the construction of a pavilion inspired by the architecture of ancient Greece in one of the most rugged parts of the site, from where the rocks fell steeply into the sea. The construction of the pavilion dragged on until 1940.

Things were going well when the Swiss Zenon Schreiber joined the project in January 1927. The promising landscaper and gardener did an extraordinary job over the next four years with the help of a four to five-man team to prepare the site for the creation of the garden. Tons of rubble were moved from a former quarry in a remote part of the site to the entrance to the garden, where a rock garden was created that still impresses visitors today. Years later, the quarry itself was converted into a wonderful pond that can be visited. The area also had to be drained in order to be able to plant it at all. Wagonloads of manure that had to be transported by train to Blanes were scattered and paths and paths laid. All in all, it was an enormous task that later enabled Schreiber's successor, the also well-known German landscape gardener Wilhelm Narberhaus, to divide the site into different areas and to determine which plants would thrive best in which places. Narberhaus brought coherence and consistency to the garden project that Faust had dreamed of for so long.

In fact, Karl Faust had a very poetic vision of his garden. As he explained to his friend, the outstanding botanist Josep Cuatrecasas, he dreamed of turning Marimurtra into a kind of Epicurean garden for biologists, a meeting place for wise men and young students, far from the annoyance that everyday life, the noise level and the frenetic pace of the Cities inevitably brings with it. A small paradise of Hellenic inspiration with ideal conditions to devote yourself entirely to science and the ideals of nature.

Statue of Karl Faust

The development of Marimurtra

Although Marimurtra remained largely undisturbed during the years of the Spanish Civil War (the garden was then managed by the managing director of “Faust y Kammann Collective Enterprise”, while the gardener Miquel Aldrufeu, the builder Josep Burcet and the Swedish gardener Erik Svensson monitored and looked after because of the concern that the garden might still be confiscated, Faust considered the possibility of setting up a foundation abroad in order to place it under special protection. Finally, Karl Faust founded the “International Station for Mediterranean Biology” in Geneva, which was under the patronage of representatives of various European botanist and natural scientist associations. Her main role was to manage and manage the garden and its associated properties to prevent confiscation as it was now international property. At the same time, the continuity of his scientific work should be ensured even after his death. After the end of the civil war, all his endeavors were aimed at legalizing the Swiss foundation in a Spain that suffered from the iron hand of the Franco dictatorship.

At that time, the three characteristic garden sections that still exist today were already laid out in Marimurtra. The first hosted the flora of the Canaries, as well as the flora of arid climates. This section is provided with an arcade that provides shade to the plants that need it. The second garden was planted with tropical and subtropical flora. The third phase was already planning, but implementation was still at a very early stage.

Karl Faust wrote tirelessly to friends, acquaintances and personalities from politics and science in order to obtain support for the legalization of his foundation and thus to guarantee the continuity of the garden. Unfortunately, his efforts were unsuccessful. And that although he spared no expense or effort to help friends and young scientists to thrive in post-war Spain. He found himself in financial difficulties and could only employ one worker. Avelino Rabassa, a tireless man with a fighter nature, who did everything possible to keep the garden alive during this difficult time.

The last few years

At the end of the civil war, Faust finally moved to Marmurtra. He traveled less and less and even went to Barcelona less and less. He had gradually withdrawn from his work there and got rid of his companies and possessions. He died in April 1952 at the age of 78. His last years had been very difficult for him.

As a German, all of his possessions and bank deposits in Spain were blocked after the end of the Second World War. He spent many years litigating to get his property back. He himself could not negotiate with the institutions to get the foundation legalized. Some of his longtime friends withdrew from him during this time. Heavy periods of drought also wreaked havoc on the garden and a subliminal argument had broken out among his closest collaborators about who would take over the scepter after his death. In the last year of his life he was practically bedridden due to an illness.

Scientific activity

Parallel to his decision to set up a botanical garden, Faust also concentrated on further education in scientific, botanical and taxonomic terms. To do this, he read numerous works and made contact with national and international scientists. A good friendship and cooperation developed among others with Pius Font i Quer, a pioneer in the field of systematic botany in Catalonia with a clear will to modernize. Through him came the contact to other renowned scholars such as Josep Cuatresasas, Miquel Adrufeu and Carlos Pau.

Alwin Berger was one of the first advisors for the garden. The German botanist had been the curator of Sir Thomas Hanbury's Botanical Garden at Capo Mortola (Ventimiglia, Italy) for seventeen years and at that time worked as the head of the botanical department of the Natural History Museum in Stuttgart. However, there was also written or direct exchange with other renowned European experts in the field, including Walter Kupper, Erich Wedermann, Gustav Senn, Oscar Burchard, Robertson Prowschosky, Friedrich Wettstein and Josias Braun-Blanquet, a Swiss who was based in Montpellier and The Station Internationale de Géobotanique de la Flore Méditerranée (SIGMA), which he founded, was able to open up a whole range of possibilities for Faust. SIGMA acted as a scientific research center with a focus on plant sociology. The center also sponsored numerous multidisciplinary studies, scientific publications and promoted exchange on an international level. In 1934, Faust played a key role in organizing the SIGMA excursion in Catalonia, in which numerous scientists from all over the continent took part.

Promotion of young scientists

His clear humanistic attitude and love of science led Faust to support numerous young researchers as patrons, many of whom over the years have become recognized personalities in their respective fields. The best example of this is Ramon Margalef, who has become one of the most important representatives of marine ecology worldwide. The botanist and illustrator Eugeni Sierra and Carles Bas, one of the pioneers in the field of fishing research, are also worth mentioning in this context.

The stay of a dozen students in Marimurtra in the summer of 1949 as well as the exchange with the Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC, Institute for Scientific Research) - which provided Faust with premises, contacts and training opportunities - was decisive for the foundation of today under the Name Centro de Estudios Avanzados well-known scientific research institute in Blanes.

His legacy

Karl Faust with young researchers

In 1951 Faust finally succeeded in establishing a new foundation, which was now recognized by the Spanish legislation of the time and which was to continue his work. Despite all the ups and downs, the Private Foundation Karl Faust has succeeded to this day in ensuring the continuity of Marimurtra, even expanding the garden, making educational tours possible, supporting researchers and collaborating with other scientific institutions.

Karl Faust is a clear example of what constitutes a scientific patron, an activity that has all too seldom been recognized in Catalonia. He promoted botany without being a botanist; he promoted scientific publications without being a writer or editor; He campaigned for science without being a scientist, for international relations without diplomatic status, and for the training of researchers without being himself. Perhaps the fact that the origin of Faust's vision was purely altruistic and altruistic and that he never gave up on realizing his dream is the reason that his work continues to this day and is supported by people who are ready to continue his work and to expand.

Bibliography

• Maite Baratech: Faust y Kammann. 100 years of history . Barcelona: Faust y Kammann, 2010.
• Josep Maria Camarasa: Les llargues vacances del 36 de Carl Faust , in Blanda, ed . 9. Blanes: Ajuntament de Blanes i Arxiu Municipal de Blanes, 2006, pages 58-73.
• Josep Maria Camarasa; Maria Elvira Silleras: El llegat de Carl Faust. Un discret mecenatge de les ciències de la natura a casa nostra , in Mètode , ed. 76, pages 26–30.
• Noel Clarosó: Recuerdo de Carlos Faust , in Blanes , ed. 1 (1966).
• Pius Font i Quer: Karl Faust Schmidt , in Collectanea Botanica, Volume 3, Fasz. I (1952).
• KJ Stahl: Hadamar - City and Castle - Hadamar 1974
• Guillermo Narberhaus: El Jardín <<Marimurtra>>, in Recull , 1959.
• Guillermo Narberhaus: El jardí botànic “Marimurtra” in Blanes. Translation by Eva González Sales, February 2007. Original: The Marimurtra Botanical Garden in Blanes. Unpublished .
• Eduard Puigventos López: La República dels biòlegs. Biografia de Carl Faust . Girona: Documenta i Fundació Privada Carl Faust, 2019.
• Maria Angela Sagrera: Guillermo Narberhaus Flamm i Blanes , in Blanda , edition 12. Blanes: Ajuntament de Blanes i Arxiu Municipal de Blanes, 2009, pp. 62–75.

Web links

• Homepage of the garden he founded
• MARIMURTRA. The Costa Brava Botanical Garden

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “I am the oldest of seven siblings and my father said: If I let you study, who knows whether I will still be able to spare money for the little ones. I had no choice but to submit and devote myself to business life. ”Letter from Karl Faust to Josep Cuatrecasas, December 19, 1948. Archive of the Karl Faust Foundation (AFCF).
2. ↑ Guillermo Narbehaus: El Jardí botànic "Marimurtra" a Blanes . 2007 (Original title: The Marimurtra Botanical Garden in Blanes . Translated by Eva González Sales).
3. ↑ Power of attorney from the Spanish Körting AG brothers in favor of Karl Faust and Schmidt, July 3, 1903. AFCF.
4. ^ By Goethe, Johann W .: Anys d'aprenentatge de Wilhelm Meister . In: Edicions 62 . Barcelona 1985.
5. ^ La Il lustració Catalana. Ed. 386, p. 680, October 23, 1910.
6. ↑ BARATECH, Maite. Faust y Kammann. 100 years of history. Barcelona: Faust y Kammann, 2010, p. 12.
7. ↑ The change in the composition of the management and the name change can be seen in the land register of Barcelona, ​​sheet 16.517 (Faust y Kammann). A copy can be found in the Foundation's archive (AFCF).
8. ↑ Maria Àngela SAGRERA wrote a biography of Narberhaus. Guillermo Narberhaus Flamm i Blanes, published in Blanda , edition 12. Blanes: Ajuntament de Blanes i Arxiu Municipal de Blanes, 2009, pp. 62–75
9. ^ Founding document of the "International Station of Mediterranean Biology", certified by the notary Ernst Miescher, March 23, 1937 (in German and Spanish versions). AFCF
10. ↑ One of the participants, the Swiss Heinrich Frey, described his experiences during the excursion under the title Recuerdos de un hispanófilo suizo, published in Homenaje almeriense al botánico Rufino Sagredo . Almería: Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, 1982, pp. 147-167.