Prussian State Institute for Hydrology

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The Prussian State Institute for Hydrology was founded on April 1st, 1902 in Berlin and for the first time brought together specialists from the fields of water management , meteorology and geology for the comprehensive processing of hydrological questions.

When the north German rivers were hit by devastating floods in the 1880s, the Prussian state government felt compelled to initiate detailed investigations into the character of the waters, which subsequently led to the publication of the extensive monographs of the north German rivers (cf. Electricity management ). This led to in-depth knowledge of the hydrological contexts and their great practical importance for the entire water management, so that the Prussian Water Committee, founded in 1892, was converted and expanded into a state institute after ten years of existence.

In addition to the Prussian state territory, the work area of ​​the Prussian State Institute for Hydrology also included the other northern German states and initially also Saxony and the Thuringian states, until Saxony in 1912 and Thuringia in 1922 received their own hydrological institute.

" Business instructions for the Prussian State Institute for Hydrology.
(Established according to the Supreme Order of April 14, 1902.)
§ 1.
The State Institute for Hydrology has the following tasks:
I. Collection, uniform processing and supplementation of the observations on the runoff process in navigable and non-navigable waters, as well as determination of the relevant conditions.
II. Utilization of these research results through publication and, if necessary, through participation in solving all kinds of water management issues.
§ 2. Collection and processing of observations and investigations into the drainage process.
A) Here, the observations of the water levels at the gauges of the Prussian water and melioration building administration, as well as the water volume measurements carried out by the officials of these administrations and the other recordings important for the drainage process come into consideration. These are to be supplemented by the collection of reliable observations and investigations of the same kind carried out from other sides and on the stretches of the waters under consideration outside Prussia, and in special cases by own measurements and recordings.
B) In a similar way, the meteorological observations at home and abroad, insofar as they appear to be of importance for the runoff of those waters, are to be collected and processed for the purposes of hydrology. In order to gain a correct view of the relationship between precipitation, runoff and evaporation, additional observations of various kinds will be necessary, especially about the temperature of the water and soil, the evaporation conditions, the effects of the plant cover, etc. The representations of the floods and ice corridors are particularly detailed to treat.
C) The investigations into the infiltration of the water, the movement of the groundwater and the formation of springs, using the results of the relevant investigations of the geological survey of the land, come into consideration as further tasks.
In particular, related questions are those about the effects of surface design, about the permeability of soil types, about their resistance to attack by water, about the formation and movement of bed load, about the type and quantity of bed load and sediment in the water, etc. .
§ 3. Utilization of the test results.
The critically processed results of the investigations designated under IA to C should be published in annual yearbooks. In addition to the regular observation results communicated in tables and graphs, these yearbooks will contain comprehensive treatises from the field of hydrology. Since the treatises extend to all questions that have been touched on in the hydrographic and water management representations of the Prussian rivers, they form a constant supplement to these works. In connection with them, the yearbooks should therefore serve as a reliable source that can be used by every expert for the processing of water management tasks of all kinds.
§ 4. Assessment of hydraulic engineering issues.
The ministers for public works and for agriculture, domains and forests jointly give orders to provide expert opinions.
§ 5. Interactions with authorities and scientific institutions.
The business dealings with the authorities of the hydraulic engineering administration are carried out by the minister of public works, with the authorities of the melioration building administration by the minister for agriculture, domains and forests, with other Prussian and non-Prussian authorities by these two ministers.
The state institute can establish direct contact with related scientific institutions at home and abroad, associations and private individuals in order to promote its purposes, in particular for an exchange of relevant publications, magazines and printed matter.
§ 6. Work plans and business reports.
Before the start of each working year, the head of the state institute has to draw up a work plan, which is submitted to the Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Agriculture, Domains and Forests for review and approval. These two ministers will bring the work plan to the attention of the other ministries involved in good time before it is established and will take their wishes for expansion in certain directions into account as much as possible.
At the end of each working year, the head of department submits a business report on the past year to both of the ministers named, which is communicated to the other departments involved, along with the publications of the state institute.
§ 7. Officials of the State Agency.
At the head of the state institute is a lecturing council from the Ministry of Public Works. The management is transferred to him jointly by the ministers of public works and for agriculture, domains and forests. Likewise, the selection and transfer of the other civil servants and auxiliary workers is carried out jointly by both ministers. The acceptance of auxiliary staff in the contractual relationship is left to the head of the state institution within the framework of the transferred fund.
The ministers for public works and for agriculture, domains and forests are responsible for registering the necessary funds in the budget. In addition, the State Agency does not constitute a special authority, but is part of the Ministry of Public Works.
Berlin, May 2, 1902.
The Minister of Public Works
v. Thielen
The Minister of Agriculture, Domains and Forests.
Hermes."

In 1928 the state institute, which was founded in 1891, was affiliated with the main leveling office and the name of the institute was now the Prussian state institute for hydrology and main leveling .

The directors of the institution were:

  • 1902–1917 Really secret senior building officer Dr.-Ing. E. h. Hermann Keller (1851-1924)
  • 1917–1933 Secret building officer Dr.-Ing. E. h. Wilhelm Soldan (1872–1933)
  • 1933–1937 Ministerialrat Burghard Körner
  • 1937–1945 Ministerialrat Professor Artur Wechmann (1882–1969)

During its existence, the state institute was incorporated into four different ministries:

  • 1902–1921 the Ministry of Public Works
  • 1921–1934 the Prussian Ministry of Agriculture
  • 1935–1941 to the Reich and Prussian Ministry for Food and Agriculture, later: Reich Ministry for Food and Agriculture
  • 1941–1945 General Inspector for Water and Energy.

The head of the institute was also a consultant for hydrological questions in the ministry. When the sovereign rights of the states passed to the Reich in early 1934, hydrology was standardized for all of Germany.

During its existence, the state institute published 40 volumes of the Hydrology Yearbook and developed a large number of basic regulations, hydrological measuring devices and measuring methods. From 1914, she also tried to research the groundwater.

For the development of hydrological research in Germany after 1945 see z. B. Federal Institute for Hydrology .

literature

  • Karl Fischer : The Prussian State Institute for Hydrology and its previous publications. In: Natural Sciences. 4, 1916, ISSN  0028-1042 , H. 20, pp. 261-265, H. 23, pp. 309-315 and H. 28, pp. 397-403.
  • P. Martell: The State Institute for Hydrology in Berlin. In: International review of the entire hydrobiology and hydrography. 13, H. 5-6, 1925, ZDB -ID 515646-4 , pp. 358-365.
  • Commemorative publication by the Federal Institute for Hydrology on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Prussian State Institute for Hydrology. Federal Institute for Hydrology , Bielefeld 1952 ( special information on the German hydrological yearbook 4, ISSN  0342-5436 ).