Wilhelm Edler

Wilhelm Edler (born August 30, 1855 in Einbeck , † March 2, 1936 in Jena ) was a German crop scientist and seed researcher.

Life

After several years of agricultural practice, Edler studied at the University of Göttingen from 1877 and received his doctorate in 1882 with Gustav Drechsler with a thesis on soil science. After completing his doctorate, he stayed as Drechsler's assistant at the Agricultural Institute in Göttingen. In 1886 he was given the management of the agricultural test field. From 1881 to 1896 he was part-time general secretary of the main agricultural and forestry association in Hanover. Since 1881 he has also given lectures on agriculture at the Forest Academy in Hannoversch Münden .

In 1896 Edler was appointed associate professor for agriculture at the University of Jena and in 1902 appointed full professor and director of the Agricultural Institute. He worked here until his retirement in 1927 (at the age of 72). At the same time he was head of the agricultural research station in Jena, the main plant protection center in Jena and the Thuringian potato research station.

Teaching and research

As a test field manager at the University of Göttingen, Edler made great contributions to field testing. The focus of his teaching and research activities, however, was all his life in the field of seeds and varieties. He sustainably improved methods for seed testing. On behalf of the German Agricultural Society , he oversaw cross-regional variety trials for decades. He published his excellent reports on the results of these experiments primarily in the series “ Work of the German Agricultural Society ”. In 1909 the German Agricultural Society founded a special committee for variety experiments and elected Edler as its chairman. Edler published numerous articles on varieties in " Fühlings Landwirtschaftliche Zeitschrift ", which he edited from 1905 until its publication in 1922.

Edler encouraged many of his students to continue their academic work. His students include Richard Krzymowski , Theodor Roemer , George Sessous and Adolf Zade . Edler held the title of Privy Councilor from 1909. In 1925, on his 70th birthday, the German Agricultural Society awarded him the silver-gilded Eyth commemorative coin; Schoolchildren and specialist colleagues presented him with an extensive commemorative publication (“Research from Agricultural Science”, Berlin 1925).

Fonts (selection)

• Development and activity of the main agricultural and forestry association in Göttingen in the 50 years of its existence, 1845-1895 . Göttingen undated (1896).
• Maintaining and increasing the productivity of cultivated plants . In: Fühlings Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung vol. 55, 1906, pp. 120–146.
• The grain cultivation . Friedrichswerth 1911; 2nd edition, ibid. 1925.
• Plant breeding and variety selection . In: Work of the German Agricultural Society H. 314 (Time and Disputes in Agriculture), Berlin 1921, pp. 25–42.

literature

• Ernst Klapp:  Edler, Wilhelm. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 314 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Otto Enker: Wilhelm Edler on his 70th birthday . In: Pflanzenbau Jg. 2, 1925/26, pp. 65–67 (with picture).
• George Sessous: Privy Councilor Prof. Dr. Noble † . In: Der Forschungsdienst Vol. 1, 1936, pp. 489–491 (with picture).
• Privy Councilor Prof. Dr. Noble † . In: Deutsche Landwirtschaftliche Presse vol. 63, 1936, p. 139 (with picture).
• Wilhelm Edler † . In: Der Züchter Vol. 8, 1936, pp. 104-105 (with picture).
• E. Lohmeyer: The study of agriculture at the University of Jena 1826-1954 . Jena 1954, pp. 59-63 (with picture).
• Jochen Oehme: Noble, Wilhelm. In: Lebenswege in Thüringen, Fifth Collection, VOPELIUS Jena, 2015, pp. 51–54

Web links

• Literature by and about Wilhelm Edler in the catalog of the German National Library