Paul Vageler

Paul Wilhelm Eduard Vageler (born October 30, 1882 in Maeken , Prussian Holland ; † December 3, 1963 in São Paulo , Brazil ) was a German-Brazilian soil scientist .

Life

Vageler, the son of a domain tenant , studied geology, soil science, agricultural chemistry and biology at the University of Königsberg since 1900 and received his doctorate there in 1904 with the dissertation on the influence of the vegetation period and fertilization on the chemical components of potato tubers . He then worked at various soil science institutes in Germany. In 1909 he entered the service of the Reich Colonial Office , where he worked as an economic consultant in German East Africa until the beginning of the First World War . In 1910 he qualified as a professor in Königsberg for agricultural chemistry and bacteriology . In August 1914, he volunteered until March 1915 for the German colonial troops in South West Africa.

Vageler wrote a popular book entitled African Mosaic about his travels through the African continent . In it he tries to play his role as the polyglot " Kara Ben Nemsi " and puts down his commitment to National Socialism and hardly concealed racism. On November 1, 1931, he joined the NSDAP .

After 1920 Vageler undertook several pedological research trips to tropical countries from Germany and compiled extensive observation and data material. From 1924 to 1928 he worked on Java as director of an agro-geological laboratory. In 1930 he published a textbook on tropical and subtropical soil science and in 1932 a comprehensive work on the cations and water balance of the mineral soil. In 1932 he went to Brazil on behalf of the German government, examined the possibilities of settlement in regions with different climates and set up a pedological research service. In 1934 he became a professor at the agricultural college in Rio de Janeiro . In 1939 he returned to Germany. From 1940 to 1945 he was professor and director of the Institute for Colonial Soil Science and Cultural Technology at the University of Hamburg . In 1943 Vageler and Franz Heske headed the forestry and soil science department at the German Institute in occupied Paris.

From 1948 Vageler worked again in Brazil, most recently as chief soil science consultant for the Sociedade Rural Brasileira in São Paulo. Through his committed work, he has decisively promoted soil science research and the training of soil scientists in Brazil . He published scientific and practice-oriented articles on soil research well into old age. His last work is a book published together with Kurt Renz in 1957 about the history, present and future of Brazil.

Fonts

• Soil science . Berlin 1909, 2nd edition Berlin 1921 = Göschen Collection, vol. 455.
• About the question of fertilization in the German colonies . Berlin 1911 = W. Süssrott's Koloniale Abhandlungen H. 36/37.
• Ground plan of tropical and subtropical soil science for planters and students . Berlin 1930, 2nd possible edition, ibid. 1938.
• The cation and water balance of mineral soil from the point of view of physical chemistry and its importance for agricultural and forestry practice . Berlin 1932.
• The investigation of tropical soils and their evaluation for practice . Berlin 1942.
• Brazil. Giant of the future. Side lights and impressions from the past and present (together with Kurt Renz). Gotha 1957.
• African mosaic , Verlag Paul Parey Berlin 1941.

literature

• Paul Vageler 80 years old . In: Mitteilungen der Deutschen Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft , vol. 77, 1962, p. 1459.
• Prof. Dr. Paul Vageler in memory . In: Deutsche Nachrichten (São Paulo), December 14, 1963, p. 3.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Frank-Rutger Hausmann : “Even in war the muses are not silent.” The German Scientific Institutes in World War II. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001. ISBN 3-525-35357-X , p. 101