Wolf Herre

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Wolf Herre (with chain of office) 1967

Karl Wolfgang "Wolf" Herre (born May 3, 1909 in Halle (Saale) ; † November 12, 1997 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German zoologist and co-editor of the magazine Das Tier .

Life

Wolf Herre studied from 1927 to 1932 at the University of Halle and at the University of Graz . During his studies he became a member of the Fridericiana Halle choir in 1927 and of the Gothia Graz choir in 1929 . In Halle he received his doctorate in 1932 with the zoologist Berthold Klatt (later professor of zoology in Hamburg) . After becoming a member of the Sturmabteilung and the Nazi teachers' union in 1934 , he qualified as a professor in 1935 in zoology and comparative anatomy. After the suspension of the membership ban of the NSDAP , he also became a member of the NSDAP in 1937 . His work at the University of Halle ranged from an assistant at the animal breeding institute (1932) to a lectureship in zoology and comparative anatomy (1936) to an extraordinary professorship (1942).

After serving in the war and being a prisoner of war, he went to Kiel in the late summer of 1945 , where he initially became a dietician and deputy director of the Zoological Institute and Museum as well as the Museum of Ethnology at the University of Kiel at the Christian Albrechts University . In 1947 he took over as director of the newly founded Institute for Pet Studies at Kiel University. At this university he was appointed full professor in 1951, was dean of the agricultural faculty from 1951 to 1953, dean of the faculty of mathematics and natural sciences in 1958/1959 and rector of the university in 1967/1968. In 1977 he retired , but continued to work at the institute afterwards. His successor there as professor of zoology did not take place until October 1, 1982, Dieter Kruska , who was previously a lecturer at the Institute of Zoology at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover .

Numerous research trips took Herre to Turkey, Lapland, Sweden, South America, West Africa, the Soviet Union, Nepal and the Galapagos Islands . In 1972 he took over a visiting professorship in Kyoto (Japan). In 1976 Herre was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

research

Wolf Herre primarily examined the changes that occurred in the brain of an animal species during domestication. As an anatomist, he was particularly interested in comparing the morphology of the brains of wild animals with their domesticated relatives and their hybrids . He also kept an eye on their behavior and the role of these species in cultural history. Herre, for example, took the view that the dog served humans as a food reserve at the beginning of the domestication phase , that is, the animals were slaughtered in times of need.

In order to be able to carry out his studies, he arranged for the establishment of an enclosure - the "pet garden" - at the institute. Under his direction, research with Puwos , Puschas and Pucoys was carried out there. For Herre himself, wolf and dog were central themes in his research.

Erik Zimen and later Dorit Feddersen-Petersen opened the way to primarily behavioral studies with his research interest, which was mainly focused on brain weight .

Anecdote and quote

Erik Zimen says that as a new employee at the Kiel Institute for Pet Studies (due to the lack of interesting topics for his audience) he gave a general lecture on domestication as a model for evolution and was then "almost lovingly" corrected by Herre. Herre had shown that domestication could never be a model of evolution. He pointed out that evolution primarily leads to species formation, whereas domestication leads to a - sometimes considerable - change in individual characteristics, but not to the reorganization of a population as a whole and therefore no species formation takes place.

"Domestic animals are parts of wild species in which, under changed environmental conditions of a household, an unexpected wealth of hereditary development opportunities comes to fruition over the course of generations, directing people into paths that increasingly give them versatile benefits or special pleasure."

- Pets - from a zoological perspective

Publications (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paul Meißner (Ed.): Alt-Herren-Directory of the German Singers. Leipzig 1934, p. 203.
  2. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945 . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Second updated edition, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 247.
  3. ↑ Erik Zimen: The dog - descent, behavior, man and dog . Goldmann, 1992, ISBN 3-442-12397-6 , p. 202 f.
  4. ↑ W. Herre, M. Röhrs: Pets - seen from a zoological perspective . Gustav Fischer Verlag Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8274-0722-2 . Quoted from: Andrée Wagner: The most important thing is respect (PDF; 195 kB). In: forum 228, July 2003
personal data
SURNAME Lord, wolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Herre, Karl Wolfgang (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist, rector of the University of Kiel
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 1997
Place of death Frankfurt am Main