Richard Spöcker

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Richard Georg Spöcker (born September 3, 1897 in Nuremberg , † 1975 ) was a German cartographer . He was a cave explorer in Franconia and a patron of the Natural History Society of Nuremberg .

Life

After finishing secondary school , he attended the Polytechnic Drawing School in Würzburg and then worked as a lithographer and cartographer. In 1916 he signed up as a “volunteer soldier” for the First World War . After the war he got a job at the land surveying office of the city of Nuremberg. It was here that he developed his enthusiasm for speleology and, together with others, founded the local history research section within the Natural History Society of Nuremberg, from which the karst research department later emerged. In the 1920s, his work consisted mainly of navigating and mapping caves. In the 1930s he devoted himself to surface research in karst areas . After the National Socialists came to power , the rival company Gaustelle for cave protection and cave research was established in the Bavarian East Mark under the direction of Hans Brand . In 1936 Spöcker got into a conflict with Hans Brand, who threatened him with the concentration camp . Then he carried out a less successful expedition in Slovenia . Spöcker was critical of the Nazi regime, but a political classification was not possible. His wife Frida was an avowed communist and helped Ludwig Göhring to set up a communist secret printing plant in the Anton-Völkel-Grotte near Königstein . In the post-war years up to his death in 1975 he tried to bring together caving in Germany and also devoted himself to caving in southern Europe.

In his honor, part of the cave near Steinamwasser was named the Spöckerhalle . The attempt to rename the whole cave to Spöcker cave without a name has been unsuccessful.

Research activity

In addition to exploring caves, especially in Franconian Switzerland , for example the Maximiliansgrotte and the Alfelder Windloch , he became known as a respected expert with numerous publications at home and abroad.

Works

  • The Maximilianshöhle near Krottensee, 1926.
  • Karst phenomena in the Schelmbach area, 1924.
  • The geological and hydrological conditions in the subsurface of Nuremberg, 1964.

literature

  • Brigitte Kaulich, Hermann Schaaf: Small guide to caves around Muggendorf . Natural History Society - Department for Cave and Karst Research, Nuremberg 1980, ISBN 3-922877-00-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Resistance from the Völkel Grotto (accessed on September 16, 2013).
  2. ^ Google Books, Spöcker (accessed April 6, 2013).
personal data
SURNAME Spöcker, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spöcker, Richard Georg (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cartographer, cave explorer
DATE OF BIRTH September 3, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH 1975