Paul Gisevius

Paul Gisevius (born September 28, 1858 in Wartenburg , East Prussia , † November 26, 1935 in Gießen ) was a German agricultural scientist . As a university lecturer at the University of Giessen, he expanded the agricultural institute there into a recognized teaching and research facility.

Life path

Paul Gisevius, son of a landowner and district administrator, attended grammar school in Königsberg and since 1879 studied natural sciences and agriculture at the universities of Königsberg and Bonn as well as at the Agricultural Academy in Poppelsdorf , where he worked in the Salia association in the summer semester of 1881, the later Landsmannschaft Salia, became active. In 1883 he passed the exam to become a cultural technician in Poppelsdorf . In the same year he was awarded a Dr. phil. PhD.

After training as an agriculture teacher, Gisevius worked in agricultural practice for several years. In 1886 he entered the service of the East Prussian Agricultural Central Association as a traveling teacher and set up an agricultural winter school in Braunsberg on its behalf . In 1888 he got a job as a teacher at the agricultural school in Dahme ( Mark Brandenburg ). Since 1896 he was director of this school.

In 1898 Gisevius accepted an appointment at the University of Königsberg as an associate professor for general and special plant production theory . He gave lectures on plant cultivation, grassland theory, cultivation technology and plant breeding. He carried out variety cultivation trials on an experimental farm near Königsberg and also in other places in East Prussia . In 1903 he was appointed full professor and director of the Agricultural Institute at the University of Giessen . He worked here until his retirement in 1925.

Research and teaching

At the University of Königsberg, Gisevius was particularly concerned with variety testing in East and West Prussia. He organized the first seed cultivation associations in this part of Germany and was in charge of the comparative variety trials carried out by the German Agricultural Society in all parts of Germany. He also worked as a plant breeder . For climatically unfavorable locations, he was able to select a new type of wheat that had been on the market for a long time as "Gisevius wheat".

It was only at the University of Giessen that Gisevius found sufficient support to realize his ideas for universal agricultural teaching and research. Following the example of other universities, he established an independent agricultural course in Giessen. However, he also strongly advocated special additional training with special tests. He was able to conduct the first special courses for plant breeders, animal breeding inspectors and culture technicians.

He developed the Agricultural Institute of the University of Giessen into a respected research facility. Georg Derlitzki was one of his students here. In 1904 he set up a weather service and a main plant protection center . In cooperation with the Hessen-Nassau Chamber of Agriculture , he succeeded in adding a machine testing institute , a seed control station , a potato testing center and a brewing barley assessment center to the institute. The contacts with the Chamber of Agriculture led to a close connection between science and practice. Current problems from everyday life in agriculture significantly determined the research focus at his institute. However, Gisevius had to carry out most of his field tests on leased land. Only shortly before his retirement did the State of Hesse provide him with a test facility for research purposes.

Gisevius is the author , editor and co-editor of a large number of books and writings. Of the two textbooks "Ackerbau" and "Pflanzenbau" edited under his leadership, ten editions each appeared between 1893 and 1921. He published numerous practice-oriented writings on variety experiments, on agricultural soil science and on equipment for soil cultivation. Gisevius is the editor of the fifth (1920) and sixth (1923) editions of the " Illustrated Agricultural Lexicon " published by the Berlin publishing house Paul Parey .

For his services to German agriculture, the German Agricultural Society awarded him the Great Silver Max Eyth Memorial Medal . Since 1917 Gisevius held the title of Privy Councilor . The Agricultural Faculty of the University of Giessen has been awarding a "Gisevius Plaque" since 1963 for outstanding services to agricultural sciences.

In 1953, Giseviusgasse in Vienna- Floridsdorf (21st district) was named after him.

Books and writings (selection)

• Contributions to the method of determining the specific gravity of minerals and the mechanical separation of mineral mixtures . Diss. Phil. Univ. Bonn 1883. - Zugl. in: The agricultural experimental stations, Vol. 28, 1883, pp. 369–449.
• Karl Droysen and Paul Gisevius: Agriculture . Paul Parey publishing house in Berlin 1893; 10th edition under the title agriculture, including soil science, fertilizer theory, machine theory and melioration theory , ibid. 1921 = agricultural teaching books vol. 1.
• Eduard Birnbaum: Crop production . Berlin: Parey 1893. After the death of E. Birnbaum († 1894), reworked and edited by Paul Gisevius, 10th edition, ibid. 1920 = Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbücher vol. 2.
• The competition of Danish and Swedish farmers with Germany. Travel memories (with Albert Stutzer ). Stuttgart: Ulmer 1904
• Guide through the experimental field of the Agricultural Institute of the State University of Giessen 1905 . Giessen: Münchow 1905
• The growth and decay of plants . Leipzig: Teubner 1907 = From the world of nature and the spirit, vol. 173.
• Agricultural natural history and agricultural economics . Verlag E. Roth Giessen 1907; 2nd edition 1912; 3rd edition 1923.
• Soil improvement and tillage . Hanover: Jänecke 1907 = Library of the Entire Agriculture, Vol. 8.
• Guide through the field tests of the Agricultural Institute of the State University of Giessen in 1911 . Giessen: Nitschkowski 1911
• Paul Gisevius and Georg Derlitzki: The fodder production . Friedrichswerth (Thuringia): Meyer 1915 = Agricultural Library Vol. 12.
• The soil as a resource in agriculture . Gießen 1918. (Academic speech at the annual celebration of the Hessian Ludwig University).
• Illustrated agricultural lexicon . Fifth edition (1920) and sixth edition (1923) revised and edited by Paul Gisevius. Berlin: Parey.

literature

• Georg Derlitzki: 70th birthday of the privy councilor Professor Dr. Gisevius . In: Gießener Anzeiger Vol. 178, No. 228 from September 27, 1928.
• Adolf Stählin: Paul Gisevius (1858–1935) - Professor of Agricultural Science . In: Gießen scholars in the first half of the 20th century. Published by Hans Georg Gundel, Peter Moraw and Volker Press, Tl. 1 (Publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse 35. Pictures of Life from Hesse, Vol. 2). Marburg 1982, pp. 276-286 (with picture).

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ^ Directory of the old gentlemen of the "Salia" -Bonn, semester report of the connection "Saxonia" to Berlin, summer semester 1905