Leo Waibel

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Leo Heinrich Waibel (born February 22, 1888 in Kützbrunn , † September 4, 1951 in Heidelberg ) was a German geographer.

Life

After graduating from school in 1907, Leo Waibel began to study zoology , botany and geography at the University of Heidelberg , where he was a student of Alfred Hettner . From 1909 he also studied at the University of Berlin . In 1911 he left for Cameroon as Franz Thorbecke's assistant , where they took part in an expedition of the German Colonial Society . Due to an illness, Waibel returned to Germany in 1912, where he received his doctorate in 1913. The beginning of 1914, he broke with Fritz Jaeger to German South West Africa on to field research. The outbreak of the First World War surprised Waibel and forced him to extend his stay until 1919. After his return he went to Cologne , where he completed his habilitation in 1920. Various positions followed at the universities of Cologne, Berlin and Kiel.

In 1926 he was appointed to a chair for geography at the University of Kiel . From 1929 to 1937 he was full professor of geography at the University of Bonn . During these years Waibel carried out various research trips to the tropics of Central America . Since he did not hide his aversion to National Socialism , his career in Germany ended in 1937 when he was expelled from the University of Bonn.

In 1939 he emigrated to the USA , where he was a professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison from 1941 to 1946 . After the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, he returned to Heidelberg in 1951, where he died on September 4th of that year.

Waibel's research focused primarily on the area of agricultural geography , in particular on agricultural colonization and pioneer settlements in Latin America. He coined the term economic formation . Waibel's students were among others Josef Schmithüsen and Gottfried Pfeifer .

Works (selection)

  • From primeval forest to desert: images of nature and life from West Africa . Breslau: Ferdinand Hirt, 1928. (2nd edition)
  • Problems of agriculture . Breslau: Shepherd, 1933.
  • The raw material areas of tropical Africa . Leipzig 1937.

literature

  • Jan OM Broek: Leo Heinrich Waibel: An Appreciation . Geographical Review, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Apr., 1952), pp. 287-292. Article on JSTOR.org
  • Winfried Schenk (Ed.) (2013): Leo Waibel - On the reception of his work in Brazil, Africa and Germany. Colloquium Geographicum, Volume 34. E. Ferger Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach.
  • Leo Waibel . In: Karin Orth: Expulsion from the science system. Memorial book for the committee members of the DFG expelled under National Socialism, Stuttgart: Steiner 2018 (Contributions to the History of the German Research Foundation; 7), pp. 281–294. ISBN 978-3-515-11953-5

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bulletin of the traditional association of former protection and overseas troops, Friends of the former German Protected Areas eV, No. 93/94, pp. 70–74: Hans Schmiedel and Josef Gilsdorf: Leo Waibel - a researcher for commemoration , Walsrode 2008, ISSN  1430-0613
personal data
SURNAME Waibel, Leo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Waibel, Leo Heinrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geographer
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Kützbrunn
DATE OF DEATH 4th September 1951
Place of death Heidelberg