Nassau Association for Natural History

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In 1829, citizens founded what is now the Nassau Association for Natural History in Wiesbaden , at that time still known as the Association for Natural History in the Duchy of Nassau . The aim was to promote and disseminate knowledge in the natural sciences . This goal was also pursued through the establishment of a natural history museum (today's natural history collections in the Wiesbaden Museum ). In the region, the Nassau Association for Natural History is a forum for interested laypeople and specialist scientists (e.g. botany , zoology , geology , mineralogy , paleontology ). Together with his writings, the association is one of the scientific societies in Germany.

history

Educational conditions before 1829

Wiesbaden was free of scientific activity until the early 19th century. The Counts of Nassau had their residence in Idstein , and there were no monasteries in Wiesbaden where education could have been cultivated. Even when Prince Karl von Nassau-Usingen moved the seat of government of the Principality of Nassau-Usingen, which had no more than 40,000 inhabitants, to Wiesbaden in 1744, this situation changed only marginally. The founding of the Duchy of Nassau in 1806 brought a radical change. As the capital of the new state, Wiesbaden experienced tremendous growth and also became its intellectual and cultural center. In 1800 the city had just 2,200 inhabitants, in 1830 there were four times as many. By 1900 the population should even multiply to 100,000.

One reason for the interest of the bourgeoisie in education that arose early in the 19th century is the spirit of the Enlightenment since the French Revolution in 1789. The young duchy, which owed its foundation to the protection of Napoleon , made a name for itself with reforms and legislation that was modern for the time . In this spirit of optimism, the bourgeoisie began to organize themselves in a wide variety of associations and societies. Examples of Wiesbaden are the " Nassau Association for Classical Studies and Historical Research " (1812), the " Casino Society " (1815/16), the " Agricultural Association in the Duchy of Nassau " (1820) and the "Association for Natural History in the Duchy of Nassau" (1829).

Foundation and the period up to 1866

On August 31, 1829, at the invitation of Major Anton Freiherr von Breidbach-Bürresheim (1791–1878), 141 Wiesbaden citizens came together for the constituent meeting of the Natural History Association in the Duchy of Nassau . The meeting point was the Erbprinzenpalais on Wilhelmstrasse , where the Natural History Museum was opened with a bird collection donated by Breidbach-Bürresheim. The government transferred the administration of the museum to the association and received grants for the set-up and operating costs. The chairman or director of the association, as it was called at the time, was usually a high official in the ducal government, which wanted to control the association's activities.

In addition to von Bürresheim, two other personalities should be mentioned as founders of the association and museum. On the one hand, the first director Friedrich Albert Pompejus von Arnoldi (1787–1838). On the other hand there is Ernst Albert Fritze , who works as a colonial doctor in the Netherlands and who greatly enriched the museum's collections with pieces from Indonesia. The most important part of the young natural history collection, however, was the insect collection of the Frankfurt banker Johann Christian Gerning (1745–1802), which his son Johann Isaak von Gerning had given to Wiesbaden after being mediated by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe .

The 1840s marked the first boom of the association, which at that time had more than 500 ordinary and a large number of corresponding and honorary members. This bloom was mainly associated with the name Carl Thomae , who had been the director's side as a knowledgeable secretary since 1836 . One of the most important innovations of Thomae was the scientific and popular lectures that have taken place since 1838. The association's first yearbook appeared in 1844, initially containing measurement data from four meteorological stations and water level measurements from the Rhine, Lahn and Main rivers. To date, over a hundred volumes of the yearbooks have been published, and many important scientific works on the geology and biology of the region and the content of the museum's natural science collections have been published here. Important scientists in the association at that time were the geologists Guido and Fridolin Sandberger and the chemists Emil Erlenmeyer and Carl Remigius Fresenius , who later worked at various universities.

Prussian period from 1866 to 1918

The short history of the Duchy of Nassau ended with the annexation by Prussia in 1866 and the association was given a new name that it still bears today: Nassau Association for Natural History . Overall, the transition from the ducal Nassau to the royal Prussian period in the association took place without any difficulties. There was a decline in membership because some court and government officials and officers left the country. However, this was offset by new members, including the first five women.

In the 1870s, thanks to a series of donations and the activities of the two pharmacists and botanists Leopold Fuckel and Anton Vigener, the collections were expanded.

Other notable personalities are the entomologist and long-time secretary of the Carl Ludwig Kirschbaum Association, as well as the geologist and bat expert Carl Koch . The latter was not forgotten mainly because of his role as an advisor to the city of Wiesbaden on issues of drinking water supply , but also because of his great achievements as a state geologist. When he died in 1882, a memorial was donated to him in the Nero Valley . Another formative personality of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the ear doctor and butterfly researcher Arnold Pagenstecher , who was the club secretary and inspector of the museum from 1882 until his death in 1913 and from 1900 as director of the club and museum for over 30 years.

In 1900 the city of Wiesbaden took over the Natural History Museum from the Prussian government and committed to providing a new building, as the old one was bursting at the seams. In addition to the natural history museum, this building should also house the picture gallery and the collection of Nassau antiquities. Financial difficulties and quarrels about the architectural concept initially delayed the new building. Finally, the well-known architect Theodor Fischer was entrusted with the planning. In January 1912 he presented his plans to the city. Construction began a year later and, despite the war, the work was largely completed in 1915. In the same year the association and collections moved to the new building.

Weimar Republic and the time of National Socialism

After the war, the association's focus was on setting up the new museum, and on July 15, 1920, the municipal natural science collection was opened to visitors. The Goethe monument by the sculptor Hermann Hahn is set up on the outside staircase . Heinrich Fresenius has headed the association since 1913 . A new statute was drawn up under him. The association director is now called the chairman and the association and museum management are separated. In the 1920s, despite major financial problems, the association managed to continue to publish the yearbooks on a regular basis - to a lesser extent - and to successfully hold lectures.

In 1924 the chairman of the association, the geologist August Leppla , died and his successor was the grammar school director Friedrich Heineck , who - with a lengthy break - was to hold this office until 1960. Heineck is aligning the museum more closely to the needs of the public and sees the main task of the collections in educating the visitor. He is assisted by the geologist Max Galladé , who created the geological relief of the region in the museum. Also to be mentioned are the custodian of zoology Christian Fetzer and the taxidermist Joseph Burger , who played a major role in the development and expansion of the museum's collection during the 1920s.

During the time of National Socialism , the conditions in the club and museum also changed. In 1938, Heineck resigned as chairman, and Karl Fill took over the chairmanship of the association and the museum management. When the war broke out, the museum closed its doors and was not open to the public until 1949. Some of the staff was drafted into the military and Friedrich Heineck represented Karl Fill as director. Despite severe restrictions, the association held lectures and excursions until 1944. In 1941 the last yearbook was published for the time being. In addition to the members of the association who were killed and killed in the war, the loss of the Jewish members is particularly regrettable.

Time after 1945

In 1946 Friedrich Heineck was re- elected as chairman, who was to lead the association for another 14 years. In the winter of 1946/47 the lectures were resumed, and the first excursions were organized in 1947.

Although the museum survived the war relatively well, a bomb attack in February 1945 smashed many windows and showcases and caused great chaos. The clean-up work was initially slow because there was a lack of staff. Only in 1948, when the zoologist Fritz Neubaur started working in the museum and Friedrich Heineck devoted himself as an honorary head of the geological department, this succeeded. After approval by the American administration, the first three halls were open to school classes from March 1949, and most of the halls were open to general visitors from August 1950. The insect room followed in March 1951 and finally the room for native animals in the summer of 1952.

Another defining figure of the post-war period was the geologist and director of the Hessian State Office for Soil Research Professor Franz Michels . He led numerous excursions and campaigned for the association in many ways. In 1960 he took over the office of chairman, while his wife Elfriede, as a graphic artist, actively supported Heineck in designing the exhibition. Since 1956 Karl Fill also helped again in the museum. In 1963 he installed the aquarium in the museum, which delighted the Wiesbaden population for almost three decades until it was closed in 1991.

From 1973

When the State of Hesse took over the museum on January 1, 1973, the Natural History Museum lost its independence. The director of the museum is the director of the art collection U. Schmidt. In 1996, the geologist Hans-Jürgen Anderle took over the management of the association and worked hard to improve the situation of the natural science collection in the museum. Autumn conferences were newly introduced at changing locations in the Nassauer Land, e. B. in Runkel , Villmar , Idstein , Zollhaus , Breitscheid , Oberursel , Bad Schwalbach , Geisenheim , Hadamar etc. These conferences, but also activities in the field of nature conservation and the commitment to the natural science collection increased the awareness of the association and led to the fact that since 1997 more new members could be won again. In 1999 the association passed the 300 member mark again; the number of full members is still at this level today.

Directors / Chairmen

Tasks and projects

One of the most important goals is to arouse interest in nature and its protection. The association communicates scientific knowledge to a wider audience. Serve this goal:

  • Organization of lectures on current topics in the natural sciences
  • Excursions and guided tours to natural history destinations
  • Practical conservation work
  • Guided tours through the natural history collections of the Wiesbaden Museum (NHS)
  • Voluntary work in the museum
  • Commitment to the maintenance, expansion and modern presentation of the museum
  • Publication of the yearbooks with generally understandable scientific articles
  • Information for members and the public through newsletters
  • Publication of special volumes on natural history topics
  • Organization of annual natural history days at locations outside Wiesbaden
  • Information on current natural history questions

Publications

Yearbooks of the Nassau Association for Natural History

The yearbooks ( ISSN  0368-1254 ) have been published continuously since 1844 until 1864 under the title Yearbooks of the Association for Natural History in the Duchy of Nassau . They offer experts and amateurs a forum to share their observations from all areas of natural history and nature conservation with the public. Over 1,600 articles on all areas of natural history have been published so far. Regionally, the articles mainly refer to the area of ​​the former Duchy of Nassau , i.e. parts of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate from the Rhine-Main Line in the south to the Westerwald and the Dill area to the north.

The volumes contain, for example, the description of the Nassau bats by Carl Koch (geologist) , numerous essays on butterflies by the Bornich pastor August Fuchs, the analyzes of the Wiesbaden Kochbrunnen (from 1850 to 1972) and other mineral and thermal springs by Carl Remigius Fresenius and by Heinrich, Ludwig and Wilhelm Fresenius, early contributions to the geology, palaeontology and mineralogy of the region by Guido and Fridolin Sandberger , the description of the mosses and lichens of the Taunus by Wilhelm Bayrhoffer and the mushrooms by Fuckel , the Nassau mollusks by Wilhelm Kobelt and the beetles by Nassau and Frankfurt by Lucas von Heyden .

The yearbooks also document the holdings of the natural history collections of the Wiesbaden Museum through many basic articles as well as catalogs and directories of the originals stored there. These stocks, in turn, are an indispensable source for today's research on the conservation of biodiversity on earth (biodiversity research).

Messages from the Nassau Association for Natural History

Financial problems meant that in the 1960s and 1970s the yearbooks were only published every two years, and later at times only every three years. In order to inform the members promptly about news in the association and museum as well as about excursions, conferences, exhibitions and news from the natural sciences, a second publication medium was created in 1977 with the announcements of the Nassau Association for Natural History ( ISSN  0946-9427 ). The newsletters today - like the yearbooks - appear regularly once a year.

More fonts

In particular, the excursion reports , which appear irregularly, serve as summaries on scientific topics. The association also publishes special volumes as part of the yearbooks , such as the geology and hydrothermal mineralization in the slate mountains on the right bank of the Rhine by Thomas Kirnbauer or the forays into nature in Wiesbaden and the surrounding area .

Honorary members

The year in brackets indicates the year of appointment.

literature

  • Walter Czysz (2004): 175 years of the Nassau Association for Natural History and Natural Science Collection of the Wiesbaden Museum 1829–2004. Yearbooks of the Nassau Association for Natural History 125: 1–372; Wiesbaden.

Web links