Matthias Christian Rabbethge
Matthias Christian Rabbethge (born March 1, 1804 in Klein Rodensleben ; † December 26, 1902 in Klein Wanzleben ) was a German sugar beet grower and sugar manufacturer.
Life
As the youngest of seven siblings, Rabbethge had to work in his father's farm from an early age. After the death of his father in 1825, he and his mother took over this farm. In 1847 he acquired a 212 acre farm in nearby Klein Wanzleben , which also included a stake in a small local sugar factory . This sugar factory was founded in 1838 by 19 local farmers and traders in the course of the spread of sugar refining technology from beets according to Franz Carl Achard .
Sugar manufacturing
From the middle of the 19th century , inexpensive beet sugar had largely replaced expensive cane sugar as a nutritious source of energy for the broad mass of the population, but it was still not available in sufficient quantities. Rabbethge, who had recognized the economic possibilities of sugar beet cultivation on the fertile soils of the Magdeburg Börde and thus of sugar production, subsequently acquired the shares of the other shareholders together with his later son-in-law Julius Giesecke (from 1858 husband of his daughter Marie). From 1864 the sugar factory traded as an open trading company Rabbethge & Giesecke , in 1865 it was converted into a stock corporation and from then on traded under the name of Zuckerfabrik Klein-Wanzleben, formerly Rabbethge & Giesecke Aktiengesellschaft . Rabbethge was constantly looking for technical improvements in sugar production , while at the same time increasing the area under cultivation through acquisition and leasing. By the end of the 19th century, the company had developed into one of the largest agricultural operations in the province of Saxony .
Sugar beet growing in Klein Wanzleben
His greatest merit, however, was together with his sons Matthias jun. and Karl , both of whom had studied agricultural science, aimed to improve the quality of the beet with regard to its sugar content through breeding . The beets to be used for the production of seeds were selected from 1859 with the help of the determination of the specific weight according to the sugar content. From 1862, the beets selected in this way were checked using polarimetric sugar content determination.
These breeding successes were so remarkable that a seed breeding production developed parallel to cultivation and refining . The Klein Wanzleben Original became one of the most productive and popular varieties; as early as 1910, Klein Wanzleben was supplying around a third of the world's need for beet seeds. The Klein Wanzleben type is still the progenitor of almost all sugar beet varieties that are grown worldwide.
From 1951, this seed breeding company developed into Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht , which has been renamed KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA since 2019 .
literature
- Hertwig Mosel, The Development of the Klein-Wanzleben Sugar Factory, vorm. Rabbethge & Giesecke AG. Legal u. Political science dissertation in Würzburg on January 18, 1926. Bernburg, Dornblüth 1925.
- Otto Keune (ed.): Men who created food. Hanover, Landbuch-Verlag 1952.
- Werner Haufe: Rabbethge, Matthias Christian. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11202-4 , pp. 61-63 ( digitized version ).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rabbethge, Matthias Christian |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rabbethge, Matthias |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German sugar beet grower and sugar manufacturer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 1, 1804 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Klein Rodensleben |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 26, 1902 |
| Place of death | Klein Wanzleben |