Paul Ehrenberg (agronomist)

Paul Richard Rudolf Ehrenberg (born May 16, 1875 in Brandenburg an der Havel , † January 18, 1956 in Freising ) was a German agricultural chemist and university professor.

Life

Paul Ehrenberg was the son of the businessman Carl Ehrenberg and the pastor's daughter Meta Louise born. Long . The family originally came from Ohrdruf / Thuringia, but had been in Hornburg a. Since the end of the 17th century. Fallstein before she settled in Brandenburg / Havel in the 19th century. After an agricultural apprenticeship, he studied agricultural science at the University of Jena . In 1895 he became a member of the Corps Saxonia Jena . 1899 did his doctorate in Jena under Theodor Pfeiffer with a critical study on the monetary valuation of animal feed . Then he first worked as an assistant in Jena ( Wilhelm Edler and August Gärtner ) and then in Berlin in the field of soil microbiology ( Theodor Remy ), but then followed his teacher Pfeiffer to the Royal University of Breslau , where he started a job in 1907 habilitated on the cycle of nitrogen in nature . In the same year he took over the management of the soil research department at the Institute for Plant Production Studies at the University of Wroclaw. For the academic years 1928/29 and 1929/30 he was elected rector of the Silesian Friedrich Wilhelms University. The Royal Prussian Forest Academy Hannoversch Münden appointed him to the chair of forest soil science in 1910 . In 1911 he switched to the chair for agricultural chemistry at the Georg-August University in Göttingen . In 1920 he returned to the University of Wroclaw as director of the Agricultural-Chemical and Bacteriological Institute. For the academic year 1926/27 he was elected Dean of the Philosophical Faculty. In 1928/29 and 1929/30 he was rector of the university. In 1945/46 he was deputy professor for soil science at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg . From October 1, 1946 to 1949 - despite his advanced age - he was acting head of the Institute for Agricultural Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich-Weihenstephan and at the same time the Bavarian Research Institute for Agriculture . Then retired , he died after an accident in Freising. He was buried in Bonn-Bad Godesberg.

With his wife Marie geb. Adam he had two sons and two daughters, whose descendants now live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Research services

Ehrenberg was the first to systematically apply the methods and findings of colloid chemistry to arable soil. His main work " Die Bodenkolloide ", first published in 1915 and reprinted several times, made his name internationally known. With a large number of generally understandable publications, he tried to bring the new research results closer to farmers.

In the fields of plant nutrition and fertilization , Ehrenberg has dealt particularly with the antagonism of individual plant nutrients and the problem of "harmonious fertilization". Noteworthy are his work on the " Kalk-Kali-Gesetz " propagated by him , according to which high amounts of lime have a detrimental effect on plant growth. During his time in Breslau, Ehrenberg's scientific interest was also in the problems of animal nutrition . His contributions to the feeding of horses are widely known and recognized.

Ehrenberg was one of the few universalists in the field of agricultural chemistry in the first half of the 20th century. His numerous book publications alone document the diversity of his research fields. The Hohenheim Agricultural University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1952.

Major works

• The soil colloids. A supplement for the usual textbooks on soil science, fertilizer theory and agriculture theory . Dresden 1915; 2. strong adult u. verb. Edition ibid. 1918; 3. presumably u. verb. Edition ibid. 1922.
• Advice on perseverance for our sugarbeet cultivation . Berlin 1917.
• The Kalk-Kali Law. New advice on avoiding lime fertilization failures. At the same time an attempt to elucidate the negative effect of larger amounts of lime on plant growth . Berlin 1919. Zugl. in: Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbücher Vol. 54, 1920, pp. 1–159.
• The fallow land and its meaning . Berlin 1921.
• The construction of the arable land. Common outline of colloid research applied to arable land . Dresden 1933.
• General and special soil science for the academically trained forester . Hanover 1947; 2nd edition, ibid. 1949.
• The agricultural land . Frankfurt / Main 1949.
• The fertilization of our fields and green spaces. Textbook for students, advanced practitioners, and administrative farmers . Stuttgart 1953.
• Feeding the horse . Radebeul and Berlin 1954.

See also

• List of corps student rectors

literature

• Kurt Maiwald: Professor Dr. Paul Ehrenberg on the completion of his 75th year of life . In: Journal for plant nutrition, fertilization, soil science, Vol. 50 (95), 1950, pp. 1-6 (with picture and bibliography).
• Prof. Dr. Paul Ehrenberg in memory . In: Die Deutsche Landwirtschaft Vol. 7, 1956, p. 107 (with picture).
• Eduard Hofmann:  Ehrenberg, Paul Richard Rudolf. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 351 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Literature by and about Paul Ehrenberg in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1930, 76/388
2. ↑ Rector's speeches (HKM)