Theodor Arldt

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Theodor Arldt, 1927

Theodor Karl Hermann Arldt (born January 20, 1878 in Leipzig ; † November 11, 1960 in Arnsdorf ) was a German scientist ( geography , paleogeography , biogeography ), philologist , historian , writer and teacher .

Life

Theodor Arldt was born on January 20, 1878 in Leipzig as the son of the master glazier Wilhelm Arldt. He attended grammar school in Freiberg, where he got ideas for his future career. From 1897 to 1901 he studied at the University of Leipzig . In 1901 he received his doctorate in philosophy here .

After a year as an assistant teacher in Meerane , Arldt came to Radeberg in March 1902 as a teacher of natural sciences and mathematics at the “Städtische Höhere Knabenschule”, which was elevated to a Realprogymnasium in 1904 and a Realgymnasium with Realschule in 1925 . The entire math and science lessons at this school were increasingly, decisively and trend-setting in his hands. He was employed as a "permanent scientific teacher" and in 1907 had the title of senior teacher . In 1917 Arldt was appointed professor . In 1927/1928, meanwhile becoming director of studies , he applied for the chair for geology and palaeontology at the University of Greifswald , which had become vacant after the departure of the founder of the palaeontological society , Otto Jaekel . However, Arldt was not hired and stayed in Radeberg. Until he was discharged from school in 1945/46, he was the vice-principal of the Radeberger Realgymnasium and mainly taught mathematics, physics , chemistry and geography .

He published his new and modern ideas about the inclusion of “world politics in the classroom” in the series “Weltpolitische Bücherei” as part of his work as a member of the “Professional Association of Higher Teachers”, in which he was responsible for the curriculum.

From 1914 Arldt was chairman of the “local committee for youth between compulsory education and military service” within the framework of the supra-regional youth education associations. Until the prohibition of the Young German Order in 1933, Arldt was Grand Master of the Radeberg Brotherhood. At the Technical Emergency Aid he was head of disaster control for the Radeberg area until it was dissolved by the Allies in 1945 and earned a great reputation.

Theodor Arldt died on November 11, 1960 in the Arnsdorf district hospital and was buried in the Radeberg cemetery. His versatile and extensive work, which he began in his youth, and his early international recognition as a scientist were and remained relatively unknown in his hometown of Radeberg.

Act

Geoscientific work

Immediately after his inaugural dissertation in 1901 on the subject over the parallelism of the coasts of South America Arldt published many works in which he dealt with the then nascent animal geography and the derived possible previous connections of today's continents , as well as scientific disciplines such as anthropology , paleontology , Paleoclimatology , geophysics , geology up to prehistory and early history . This universal geoscientific interest, which was pronounced even in his youth, meant that Arldt, along with Lise Meitner, was one of the most active speakers for the journal Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau very early on , and in the 1910 year of this journal alone he edited and published over 100 publications by foreign scientists.

In 1907, at the age of 29, he published his first comprehensive scientific work The Development of the Continents and Their Living World - A Contribution to Comparative Earth History . This 730-page monograph was mainly based on animal and plant geography. In it, Arldt established the undoubtedly palaeontologically proven relationships, especially of the southern continents, with so-called global land bridges . He joined the group of pioneers of this then new branch of science of paleogeography, represented by scientists such as Hermann von Ihering and Philip Lutley Sclater . Even before this topic was formulated as the “ land bridge hypothesis ”, Ernst Haeckel dealt in detail with this problem in his Natural History of Creation (nineteenth lecture, 1868) using the example of India / Madagascar and the hypothetical (lost) continent of Lemuria . Even Eduard Suess took this hypothesis and gave Lemuria called Gondwana . Parallel to Arldt, Franz Kossmat also dealt with basic questions of paleogeography, but from his point of view as a geologist, geophysicist and mineralogist .

The geoscientist, meteorologist and polar researcher Alfred Wegener included this and other works by Arldt in his geoscientific research. From Arldt's work "The Development of the Continents and Their Living World ...", Wegener also learned about the remarkable similarities in the geological flora and fauna between Brazil and Gabon , and thus also about the concept of sunken land bridges that should explain such connections. The ease of accessing large amounts of information through Arldt's maps in his book made them so interesting for Wegener and encouraged Wegener's intensive study of the Landbrücken hypothesis. Wegener consulted Arldt and had an exchange of views, including reviewing and comparing twenty hypothetical intercontinental land bridges.

In 1915, when Wegener wrote his current work The Origin of the Continents and Oceans , but based the paleontological relationships of the continents not on the theory of earlier land bridges advocated by Arldt and others, but on his new theory of continental drift , which ultimately became an essential foundation of today's Model of plate tectonics . Correspondence between Wegener and Arldt can be presumed, but can no longer be proven today, as the majority of Arldt's written estate was destroyed in 1960.

Arldt has continuously continued and updated his first major scientific work. He had planned 2 volumes for a new edition. Volume 1 of the completely revised and expanded Second Edition was published in 1938. The manuscript for the second volume, which according to the biogeography should contain a geological- cosmological part, was burned with other scientifically valuable documents at the end of the Second World War in Berlin . This meant that Arldt's actual life's work remained unfinished, even if it was already controversial from a geotectonic point of view at the time .

In Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen Arldt published the methods and meaning of palaeogeography in 1910 . In a very complex way he deals with the basic questions of this scientific field and shows the biogeographical, geological, palaeontological and petrographic subject areas as the basis as well as biological systematics , evolutionary theory, comparative anatomy, etc. as prerequisites for work in this area. Arldt's conclusion on this issue was:

“The apparently dead earth gains life in our spiritual eye”.

Since 1890 Hermann Joseph Klein (1844–1914) published the yearbook of astronomy and geophysics , in which Arldt also published writings in loose succession (e.g. 1907 on the island chains of Oceania ). The edition of the yearbook planned for 1913 could no longer be realized by Klein himself. Arldt took on this task for his scientist colleague and, immediately after his death in July 1914, acted as the editor of the last year XXIV.

The next extensive work of Arldt is the handbook of palaeogeography published between 1917 and 1924 in 2 volumes with a total of 1647 pages and approx. 100 illustrations. For a long time this was the “standard work” for this scientific field.

In his work Parallelism of the Guidelines in Germany (1912) as well as some other smaller publications Arldt tried to explain geotectonic and geomorphological phenomena and structures by means of mathematical-physical formulas and laws. He received criticism in scientific circles for it.

It was thanks to Arldt that he was one of the pioneers in paleogeography. In the foreword to the 1st edition of The Development of the Continents and their Living World in 1907, he explains his basic ideas:

"In the present book, the author has deliberately limited himself to the continents and tried to outline their history in broad outline, in order to first develop the methods of paleogeography and use the factual material to check whether they are justified."

In the announcement for the 2nd edition, he wrote:

"Almost 30 years ago this book appeared ... as a first attempt to summarize in a unified picture the knowledge that had been gained on the earlier conditions on the earth's surface, both biogeographically and geologically."

Regional and local history work

In addition to his work as a scientist and teacher, he wrote a large number of small papers on the history, geography, geology, flora and fauna of the area around his new home in Radeberg, published descriptions of hiking trails and organized guided hikes and excursions . In doing so, he brought home to all interested parties even before the First World War .

Members of the mountain association for Saxon Switzerland - Radeberg section. Excursion to the Bohemian mill Hinterdaubitz on 23/24. August 1913. Theodor Arldt in the back 3rd from right

As early as 1910 he was secretary in the " Mountain Association for Saxon Switzerland Section Radeberg". In the mountain association, Arldt has made special contributions to the development, marking and documentation of hiking trails in the greater Elbe Sandstone Mountains . Some of them still exist today in the old courses. In 1927 he wrote the hiking books Mit Wanderstab und Klettereil through the Saxon Rock Mountains and hiking trails of the homeland with descriptions of the routes supervised by the Radeberg section and their special features and sights.

For the year 50 as a fixed dose for the anniversary of the Mountain Club in 1927 on behalf of the full board of Alfred Meiche issued mill paper - From mills and millers in the working area of the Mountain Club of Saxon Switzerland he was with Karl lamp (the last chairman of the Mountain Club to resolution 1943 / 45), Friedrich Bernhard Störzner , Otto Mörtzsch , Moritz Herschel and other historians co-authored and wrote several chapters himself with descriptions of mills on the Prießnitz ( Dresdner Heide ), the Gottleuba (western edge of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains) and the Biela (Saxon Switzerland ).

On the 50th anniversary of the existence of the Radeberg section (later called the local group) of the mountain club in 1929, Arldt published the history of the local group Radeberg of the mountain club for Saxon Switzerland . In the Radeberg local group he also worked as a hiking guide and lecturer. In the then burgeoning areas of interest Youth Hiking, youth services, youth care and in the youth hostelling he drew upon his students and developed as their local ties and home care. When school operations were temporarily suspended after the end of the Second World War, Arldt organized non-profit work with the students of the higher grades of the Radeberger Oberschule to create a new hiking trail in the Hüttertal and to repair the Radeberg - Wallroda hiking trail that was destroyed by floods , thereby promoting the young people the homeland.

After retiring from active school service in 1945/46, Arldt devoted himself increasingly to regional-historical as well as regional and local history tasks and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. In 1948 he was appointed "Local Chairman for the Promotion of Homeland Care and Local History" by the Dresden District Council.

Arldt wrote the booklets 9 Die Dresdner Heide (1953) and 36 Das Rödergebiet around Radeberg for the publication series Our little traveling booklet published by the VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig . Seifersdorfer Tal (1955). As part of and on behalf of the Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge , Arldt held popular science lectures and wrote smaller papers well into old age. Arldt also wrote several articles on regional history for the monthly Radeberger Kulturleben published in Radeberg and the surrounding area . In the Kulturbund der GDR he was particularly active in the field of monument preservation . He also worked as a mushroom consultant and designed mushroom exhibitions.

When the Radeberg local history museum was set up in Klippenstein Castle in 1953, Arldt made his extensive scientific and historical knowledge available and, as a member of the working group of friends of nature and local history, was actively involved in building this museum.

Chronicle

As part of the increased regional and local history work after 1945, Arldt devoted himself increasingly to the inventory of the Radeberg region. In connection with chronologically processed historical events, with geological, manorial , demographic, agricultural and forestry and industrial development (including building and transport history) data, he compiled the large-format, almost 700-page chronicle of Radeberg and the area of ​​the Dresdner Heide and the Röder river - a home book . While part 1 deals with the city itself (including the "Tannengrund" with the Radeberger Augustusbad ) and Liegau , part 2 documents the Dresden Heath and the surrounding areas. Arldt was only able to complete this work as a manuscript until his death (archived in the Museum Schloss Klippenstein). So far there has been no pressure.

Arldt's Heimatbuch, together with the also extremely comprehensive chronicle of the town of Radeberg by Prof. Felix Schwabe , the town chronicle of Rudolf Limpach and the works of earlier chroniclers, is one of the indispensable chronistic documentations on Radeberg. While Arldt focuses his locally structured focus on short, factual results of his inventory, Schwabe has divided his chronicle into four main historical periods (from the first mention of Radeberg in 1219 to the First World War), in which the respective socio-political and territorial framework conditions are preceded and then the concrete historical events and facts are described.

Works (selection)

  • About the parallelism of the coasts of South America . Inaugural dissertation. Printed by CG Naumann, Leipzig 1901, OCLC 843373399 and OCLC 458512349
  • The development of the continents and their living world: a contribution to comparative geological history . W. Engelmann, Leipzig 1907, OCLC 6594845 Volume 1 of the second, completely revised and expanded edition: Berlin, Gebrüder Borntraeger, 1938, 1005 pages, OCLC 9021140 . (Manuscript of Volume 2 destroyed in WWII)
  • Handbook of Palaeography . Borntraeger Brothers, Leipzig 1917; 1919-1922, Volume 1 Paleactology ; Volume 2 Palaeogeography , Bibliography . Zus, OCLC 490218486 . Released in 2002 as a replica / paperback
  • Methods of paleogeography. In: Handbook of biological working methods. Abt. 10, H. 1, OCLC 248015114 Later also in: Methods of Geology, Mineralogy, Paleobiology and Geography. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin 1930, OCLC 603955278
  • The tribal history of the primates and the evolution of the human races. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg, imprint 1915, OCLC 913672130 . (See also Advances in Racial Science. Issue 1, 1915)
  • Germanic waves of peoples and their significance in the population history of Europe. Dieterich, Leipzig 1917, OCLC 419259608
  • The peoples of Central Europe and their state formation. Dieterich, Leipzig 1917, OCLC 612911669 . (on-line)
  • Abodes of life . Thomas-Verlag, Leipzig Dt. Natural science Ges., C. 1913, OCLC 644431929 .
  • World politics in class. Zentral-Verlag, Berlin 1930, OCLC 875303838 .
  • The spread of birds . Berlin 1916, OCLC 312236399 .
  • Natural borders and state bridgeheads . Heymann, Berlin 1916, OCLC 935316168 .
  • Animals of the prehistoric world: pictures from the dinosaur era. Thomas, Leipzig 1921, OCLC 163421631 .
  • With a hiking stick and climbing rope through the Saxon rocky mountains. Weise, Dresden 1927, OCLC 251120087 .
  • The Simroth pendulum theory . Berlin 1909, OCLC 312238703 .
  • The shape of the earth . Leipzig 1905, OCLC 312239127 .
  • The spread of some arachnid orders, mygalomorphs, scorpions, pedipalps, solipugen, palpigrades . Berlin 1908, OCLC 312236584 .
  • Palaeactology . Gebr. Borntraeger, Leipzig 1919, OCLC 28321753 .
  • The fauna of the ancient animal regions of the mainland. Nägele & Dr. Sproesser, Stuttgart 1912, OCLC 493755060 .
  • The arctic region as a development center . Teubner, Leipzig 1910, OCLC 316094674 .
  • Paleogeography and seismology . Teubner, Leipzig 1909, OCLC 316094629
  • The mammalian world of South America . Jena 1907, OCLC 312235196
  • The importance of the Antarctic in the development of the earth and its living beings . Teubner, Leipzig 1911, OCLC 316094227
  • Effect of island life on some groups of animals . Leipzig 1908, OCLC 312236251
  • Development of the Belgian and northern French rivers . Leipzig 1915, OCLC 312236674
  • Racial Progress. 1. The tribal history of the primates and the evolution of the human races. August Hirschwald, Berlin 1915, OCLC 964049861
  • Radeberg and the area of ​​the Dresdner Heide and the Röder River - A home book . Typewriter manuscript. Radeberg 1960

Fonts (selection)

  • The Röder area around Radeberg - Seifersdorfer Tal . (= Our little traveling booklet . Booklet 36). Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1955, OCLC 73231359 .
  • Dresden Heath. (= Our little traveling booklet . Booklet 9). Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1953 OCLC 73231358 . (New edition: 1962 by Herbert Wotte in the same publisher, OCLC 72973556 )
  • The Franco-Lorraine fortresses and their geographical importance. In: Geographical Scoreboard. Sheets for geographic teaching. Vol. 17, issue 6, OCLC 867600246 .
  • The names of the oceanic archipelagos. In: Geogr. Anzeiger. 7., 1906, pp. 247-249, OCLC 79837664 .
  • Earth relief and tetrahedral hypothesis. In: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen . Vol. 57, No. 2, Gotha 1911, OCLC 49463184 .
  • The biogeographical nomenclature. In: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen. Vol. 58, No. 2, Gotha 1912, OCLC 49466787 .
  • Methods and importance of paleogeography. In: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen. No. 5, 1910, OCLC 31833011 .
  • Scattered distribution areas. In: Geographical Journal. 1907, OCLC 312235225 .
  • Formations: paleogeography. In: Concise dictionary of the natural sciences. Volume 4, Jena 1913, OCLC 316094427 .
  • The oldest reptiles. In: From nature. Born 17. Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig approx. 1913, OCLC 316095134 .
  • The zoological kingdoms and regions . from: Geogr. Zeitschr. Volume 12, no . 4, Leipzig 1906, OCLC 312235121 .
  • The Mediterranean belt and its geological significance. In: Communications from the Geography Association in Dresden. Vol. 2, H. 7, OCLC 839780703 .
  • Lake Baikal and its living world. In: Archives for Hydrobiology and Plankton Science. Vol. 3, No. 189, 1907, pp. 108-111, OCLC 717495452 .
  • Paleogeographical information on the human family tree . In: Zeitschr. f. Morphology and anthropology. Volume 10, H. 2, OCLC 312236483 .
  • For the spread of land and freshwater mollusks. In: Geogr. Zeitschr. Berlin 1915, OCLC 312236387 .
  • The oldest mammalian fauna in South America and their relationships. In: Archives for Natural History. Vol. 73, Vol. 1, H. 2, OCLC 312236944 .
  • Recent advances in paleontology. In: Monthly booklets for science teaching in all school types. Volume 8, H. 8. Leipzig / Berlin 1915, OCLC 312237033 .
  • The importance of the Cambrian fauna for evolutionary theory. In: Journal for the expansion of developmental theory, archive for psychobiology. Vol. 3, H. 5. Stuttgart 1909, OCLC 312237229 .
  • Parallelism on the Earth's Surface. In: Gerland's contributions to geophysics. Leipzig 1906, OCLC 312239104 .
  • The antipodal position of land and sea. In: Gerland's contributions to geophysics. Leipzig 1907, OCLC 312239195 .
  • The size of the old continents. In: New Yearbook for Mineralogy, Geology and Paleontology. Volume 1, Stuttgart 1907, OCLC 312238412 .
  • Klein's yearbook of astronomy and geophysics, XXIV . Edited by Theodor Arldt. Eduard Heinrich Mayer, Leipzig 1914, OCLC 760809116 .
  • Parallelism of the island chains of Oceania . 2 parts. In: Journal of the Society for Geography in Berlin. 1906, OCLC 837768361 .
  • with: Wilhelm Halbfaß : Methods of Lake Research. circa 1919, OCLC 637886261 . (from: E. Abderhalden: Handbook of biological working methods. Dept. 10)
  • The zoological kingdoms and regions. In: Geographical Journal. Vol. 12 H. 4, 1906, OCLC 5544857038 .
  • Natural boundaries and state bridgeheads. In: Journal of Politics. Vol. 9, 1916, OCLC 5919477907 .
  • Mühlenbuch - Of mills and millers in the work area of ​​the mountain association for Saxon Switzerland . Edited by Alfred Meiche . Co-author. Verlag A. Urban, Dresden 1927, OCLC 719187305 .
  • History of the local group Radeberg of the mountain club for Saxon Switzerland . Radeberg 1929.
  • Dresdner Heide - Pillnitz - Radeberger Land . (Co-author, inclusion of Arldt's earlier work Radeberg - historical descriptions of places in the work). (= Values ​​of our homeland. Volume 27). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1976, OCLC 500342597 .
  • In: Geographical Journal . Several own publications and reviews not listed in the aforementioned publications.
  • Further publications in the DDB under Arldt, Th.

literature

  • Wolfgang Gotte : Theodor Arldt (1878–1960): A pioneer of paleogeography. In: Treatises of the State Museum for Mineralogy and Geology in Dresden. 39, 1993, pp. 125-130.
  • Wolfgang Gotte: Personalities of our city - Prof. Dr. Theodor Arldt. In: Radeberger Blätter zur Stadtgeschichte. Volume 10, 2012. Ed. Large district town of Radeberg.
  • Klaus Schönfuß: Theodor Arldt (1878 - 1960) - an unrecognized Radeberg genius - today again an insider tip among scholars worldwide . In: the Radeberger Heimatzeitung , issues No. 07/2018 (p. 7), No. 08/2018 (p. 4), No. 09/2018 (p. 2), No. 10/2018 (p. 4) , No. 11/2018 (p. 6)
  • Georg Banda: Prof. Dr. Theodor Arldt. In: Radeberger Kulturleben. December 1957.
  • Malte C. Ebach, Elizabeth M. Dowding: Theodor Arldt (1878–1960): Parochial Pauker and Pioneering Palaeobiogeographer. In: Zootaxa , 4319, 1 ( online ) (with extensive literature and references).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Schmutzler: The development of a higher school education in Radeberg. In: Radeberger Blätter zur Stadtgeschichte. Volume 10, 2012. Ed. Große Kreisstadt Radeberg, pp. 117–122.
  2. ↑ Weltpolitische Bücherei : Basic series, Ed. Adolf Grabowsky . DNB 578991160
  3. ↑ a b Address book for the city of Radeberg and the neighboring rural communities . Publishing house of the Radeberger Zeitung, Radeberg 1914.
  4. ^ Address book for the city of Radeberg and the neighboring rural communities . Publishing house of the printing house of the Radeberger Zeitung (Gebr. Hordler) in Radeberg, Radeberg 1927.
  5. ^ DigiZeitschriften : Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau
  6. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Gotte: Theodor Arldt (1878-1960): A pioneer of palaeogeography . In: Treatises of the State Museum for Mineralogy and Geology in Dresden . tape 39 . Dresden 1993, p. 125-130 .
  7. ↑ Ernst Haeckel: The natural history of creation . 1868 (online: Chapter 19 )
  8. ↑ Sumathi Ramaswamy: The Lost Land of Lemuria: Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories. University of California Press, Berkeley 2004, ISBN 0-520-24440-0 .
  9. ^ Hoffmann, PF: The Tooth of Time - Alfred Wegener. In: Geoscience Canada. Vol. 39, Number 12, P. 102-111. Retrieved February 11, 2018 . (PDF; 1.1 MB)
  10. ↑ Wegener, Alfred: The origin of continents and oceans. Methuen & Co, London 1924, p. 212 pp. (translated by Skerl, JGA)
  11. ↑ Malte C. Ebach, Elizabeth M. Dowding: Theodor Arldt (1878-1960): Parochial Pauker and Pioneering Palaeobiogeographer. In: Zootaxa. (Online edition). Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand (PDF 5.1 MB; accessed January 13, 2018).
  12. ↑ Methods and importance of paleogeography. In: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen. Issue 5, Gotha 1910.
  13. ^ Dresdner Heide - Pillnitz - Radeberger Land . (= Values ​​of our homeland. Volume 27). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1976.
  14. ^ Radeberger cultural life . December 1960, p. 5.
  15. ^ Bertram Greve: Prof. Felix Schwabe - teacher and chronicler in our city. In: Radeberger Blätter zur Stadtgeschichte. Volume 4, 2006. Ed. City of Radeberg
personal data
SURNAME Arldt, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arldt, Theodor Karl Hermann (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German scientist, paleontologist, writer, teacher
DATE OF BIRTH January 20, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1960
Place of death Arnsdorf