Wilhelm Andreae (cactus grower)
Wilhelm Andreae (born October 30, 1895 in Munich , † May 7, 1970 in Bensheim ) was a German cactus specialist, the founder of Andreae cactus cultures and managing director of a beer brewery. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Andreae ".
Life
Wilhelm Andreae grew up in Bensheim an der Bergstrasse. His father died very early, the two sons were raised by their mother alone. Wilhelm Andreae worked as a businessman in various companies in management positions. In 1925 he became the managing director of a beer brewery until he retired in 1960. In 1922 he was given his first cactus, an Echinopsis .
Soon after his marriage to Gertrud geb. Guntrum (1901-2001) in 1924 he had a cactus collection in a small greenhouse, which soon could no longer accommodate the growing number of plants and was enlarged by an extension. In 1936 he built a house and a new, larger greenhouse in a large garden in Bensheim. Wilhelm Andreae looked after the cacti together with his wife Gertrud. Because of his job-related demands, his wife Gertrud took over most of the care of the now large collection of enthusiasts.
Wilhelm Andreae maintained contacts to many well-known capacities in the cactus sector. There were friendly relationships with Curt Backeberg , Friedrich Bödeker , Willy Cullmann , Robert Gräser , Wilhelm Kesselring , Hans Krainz , Joseph Anton Purpus and many others.
Coryphantha andreae , Gymnocalycium andreae and Eriosyce andreaeana were named after Wilhelm Andreae. Wilhelm Andreae was an excellent photographer, numerous pictures and articles by him were published in the magazine Kakteen und other Succulents . He has given many slide presentations in cactus associations at home and abroad. From 1956 onwards he made numerous contributions to the loose-leaf collection Die Kakteen , which was published by Hans Krainz . In 1959 he was made an honorary member of the German Cactus Society . When he retired from professional life in 1960, he devoted himself entirely to caring for his plants. He built new greenhouses and increased the plant collection.
Andreae cactus cultures
His son Dieter Andreae, born in 1928, has also been occupied with cacti and other succulents since his early youth. In 1959/60 he accompanied Prof. Werner Rauh from Heidelberg on a research trip to Madagascar and East Africa. Prof. Rauh named a plant that Dieter Andreae found in Kenya as Duvalia andreaeana . In 1972 Dieter Andreae took over the plant collection of his father, who died in 1970, and moved to Otzberg-Lengfeld in 1973 , the plants found a new home in a 400 m² greenhouse in Otzberg-Lengfeld, outside Lengfeld 17, called "Kaktenkulturen Andreae". Dieter Andreae cultivated plants and seeds for sale there and maintained a large collection that can still be seen there today. In 2004 he handed over his life's work to Michael Januschkowetz, who is continuing and expanding Andreae cactus cultures in his sense.
Web links
- Author entry and list of the plant names described for Wilhelm Andreae (cactus grower) at the IPNI
- To the history of Andreae cactus cultures
Single references
- ^ Pol Bourdoux: In Memoriam W. Andreae . In: Cactus . Volume 2, Antwerp 1970, pp. 97-98.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Andreae, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German cactus specialist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 30, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Munich |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 7, 1970 |
| Place of death | Bensheim |