Kurt Harz

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Kurt Harz (born March 22, 1915 in Munich , † September 20, 1996 in Rothenburg ob der Tauber ) was a German entomologist .

Life

Kurt Harz was born in Munich in 1915 as the son of the then legal intern Franz Paul Harz and his wife, the native Austrian Emilie (née Schreiber). Carl Otto Harz (1842–1906) was one of his grandfathers.

During the First World War, the mother moved with Kurt Harz and his brother Karl back to their home in Gurschdorf (today Skorošice ). After the end of the war, the father also followed. Kurt developed polio at the age of five . He survived the illness but has been dependent on a wheelchair ever since. From 1921 to 1925 he received private lessons from an old teacher once a week in Freiwaldau (today Jeseník ). The family first moved to Bärn in Moravia (today Moravský Beroun ), but returned to Gurschdorf in 1935. During this time, Kurt Harz acquired knowledge on his own. Among other things, he collected plants and animals and began rearing insects. In 1938 he was employed as a secretary and nature conservation officer at the Gurschdorf community. When he was evicted in 1946, he had to leave all his equipment and his entire library behind. The family came to Wülfershausen an der Saale in Lower Franconia. Since he could not find a job there, he earned his living with tutoring and painting. He now had a lot of time for his insects again, the Geradflügler (Orthopteroida) became more and more his specialty.

After the death of his first wife Hilda in 1953, Kurt Harz married the nurse Anna Botsch (called Hanna) two years later († December 22, 2010 ). Both brought a son into the family: Lothar (Kurt Harz) and Peter (Anna Botsch). In 1957 the family of four moved to Münnerstadt near Bad Kissingen. In the same year the first big book "Die Geradflügler Mitteleuropas" was published.

In 1963/64 Kurt Harz founded the German Research Center for Butterfly Migration eV (DFZS) and took over its management. One year later, Harz founded the DFZS 'Atalanta magazine. In 1972, he transferred both activities to other hands in order to be able to fully devote himself to the three volumes of the “Orthopteres of Europe”. In the meantime the family was able to move to a small house in Gröbenzell near Munich. The house was given to them by Kurt Harz's aunt Lina Geist. Through the legacy of Dr. Resi Harz was finally able to have Kurt Harz build a handicapped-accessible house according to his own ideas. The family chose the wife's birthplace as the location: Endsee near Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Kurt and Anna moved into the house in 1975. In the same year Kurt Harz founded the magazine "Articulata", which he passed on to the German Society for Orthopterology in 1988.

Kurt Harz published over 200 specialist articles and books, mainly on insects. In 1959 Kurt Harz received the Fabricius Medal from the German Entomological Society , and he was also an honorary member of many scientific societies in Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and the USA. On July 28, 1982, the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich awarded him an honorary doctorate (Dr. hc.).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ U. Eitschberger: A successful research life has come true: Dr. hc. Kurt Harz March 22, 1915 to September 20, 1996. In: Entomological News and Reports. 40 (3), 1996, pp. 186-188.
  2. ^ Atalanta magazine , preface by Kurt Harz ( Memento from September 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Anonymous: Honorary doctorate for Kurt Harz. In: Scoreboard for pest science. 55 (11), 1982, p. 176.
personal data
SURNAME Harz, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH September 20, 1996
Place of death Rothenburg ob der Tauber