Max Hoffmann (zoologist)

Max Hoffmann with traps and captured muskrats

Max Hoffmann (born July 6, 1904 in Halle (Saale) ; † February 24, 1995 in Berlin ) was a German specialist in muskrat research and for combating muskrat in theory and practice.

career

Hoffmann was born in 1904 as the eighth of nine children. His father was a stud caretaker in what was then the Prussian-Saxon state stud "Kreuz" in Cröllwitz near Saale-Halle. In keeping with the environment, he grew up working in agriculture.

His professional career began on April 1, 1919 as an administrative apprentice at the Research Institute for Plant Diseases and Agricultural Chemical Control Station in Halle (Saale). In October 1921, the local director HC Müller employed him as a private secretary. After his death in February 1931, Hoffmann became the administrative manager of what is now the plant protection office. He held this post until December 1952, with a war-related interruption. From December 16, 1952 to June 30, 1971 he was "Commissioner for the fight against muskrat in the GDR".

In the 1920s and 1930s, Max Hoffmann made a significant contribution to the development of the German Plant Protection Service, especially in the province of Saxony . He was co-organizer of many special tasks, such as seed treatment , plant quarantine , phylloxera - and Lohnsaatbeizkontrolle, potato wart - Colorado potato beetle - beet bugs - onion fly - and other actions. As commercial manager, he ran the plant protection agent sales point, which was affiliated to the plant protection office around 1919. Part-time he was the field service manager of the Saxony-Anhalt state office attached to the office for combating muskrat. He worked as a lecturer in courses for crop protection technicians in Saxony-Anhalt; he was also a co-founder of the first German technical school for plant protection in Naumburg (Saale).

After the end of the Second World War, his task was to make a leading contribution to the rebuilding of the plant protection service, especially for the province of Saxony and Anhalt . The responsible office was responsible for four district plant protection offices, 36 district plant protection offices, 180 permanent scientific, technical and administrative staff, and in the season around 800 spray and equipment control rooms with a correspondingly large fleet of vehicles.

The predominant administrative work did not satisfy him, and so he gladly took over the management of the muskrat combating service of the GDR offered to him by the water management. The muskrat, first introduced from America in 1905, was an animal that was previously completely unknown in Europe and Asia and that spread very quickly. The considerable damage that the animal was causing through its digging work, especially on the dikes , was soon noticed everywhere , and the state began to fight the rodent.

Hoffmann did not stop at the control technique, but researched the way of life of this animal in cooperation with scientific institutions, especially with the Zoological Institute in Halle. In doing so, he himself chased the muskrat “with a rifle stick and traps”. At his suggestion, over thirty scientific papers were written, for which he provided the material or otherwise supported them. In 1942 he began to write short treatises himself. Outstanding from his literary work is the muskrat monograph published in 1958 with its five subsequent supplements. Promoted by his practical work, publications were also made about the American mink , nutria , beaver and brown rat , also about ornithological observations. His work also required a considerable amount of cooperation in matters of nature conservation.

Hoffmann's great merit was "that within a short period of time he built up a powerful combat service on the GDR scale and significantly improved the previously less effective measures, methods and devices and, above all, brought the training of muskrat hunters to a higher level".

Max Hoffmann was a well-known personality at international conferences, for example on muskrats. He has been appointed a corresponding or honorary member of internationally renowned nature conservation institutions several times. He received the GDR's gold nature conservation pin; in 1974 the GDR Medal of Merit ; In 1976 he was awarded the Leibniz Medal by the Academy of Sciences of the GDR . Probably his last award came in 1977 from the fur industry, the golden fur moth , a pin "for special services to the international fur industry".

Works (selection)

• The Muskrat Issue 78 (Brehm-Verlag, 1952)
• The muskrat. Their habits, distribution, control and economic importance (Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Geest & Portig, Leipzig 1958) → Table of contents
• The distribution of the muskrat in Europe and Asia (Ondatra zibethica L.) . In: Das Pelzgewerbe No. 3, Hermelin-Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin et al., 1958, pp. 111-118
• About the historical development of the colonization of Aller and Ohre by the muskrat (Ondatra zibethica L.) (Annual journal of the District Museum Haldensleben, Vol. 5, 1964, pp. 115-330. Also published as a special edition.)
• Bibliography of muskrats 1st addendum (Akademischer Verlag Halle, 1967)

See also

• Tail premium

Web links

Commons : Max Hoffmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Gustav Kirk: Max Hoffmann 75 years . In: Journal for Applied Zoology , 2nd Issue, 1979, pp. 129-132.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} W. Jorga: Leibniz Medal for Max Hoffmann . In: Wasserwirtschaft / Wassertechnik , VEB Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin, vol. 27, issue 3, page IV.
3. ↑ Max Hoffmann The Muskrat , 1958, foreword.
4. ^ Letter from Max Hoffmann, Berlin to Richard Franke, Murrhardt, May 9, 1988. G. & C. Franke collection.
5. ↑ Dr. Hub .: High distinction for Max Hoffmann . Hall. - Undated newspaper clipping on the copy of a letter dated July 26, 1976 to Max Hoffmann.
6. ^ Letter from Max Hoffmann dated August 22, 1982.