Wilhelm Fleischmann

Wilhelm Fleischmann ( born December 31, 1837 in Erlangen, † January 13, 1920 in Göttingen ) was a German agricultural scientist who dealt almost exclusively with the exploration of milk and dairy products. He is considered the founder of Dairy Science.

Journey

Wilhelm Fleischmann, son of a Medizinalrates, graduated from the grammar school in Nuremberg, studied since 1856 in Würzburg, Erlangen and Munich, natural sciences and received his doctorate in 1861 at the University of Tübingen with a dissertation on the determination of the magnitude of the force of gravity. For several years he then worked as a private tutor in Munich, where he occasionally worked in the chemical laboratory of Justus von Liebig. From 1864 to 1867 he had a job as a science teacher at the secondary school in Memmingen in Swabia. During this time he led at the same time, agricultural experimental station in Memmingen.

Since 1867 Fleischmann served as rector of the high school and Lindau (up to 1872) at the same time the Allgäu agricultural experimental station in the district Immenstadt. He repeatedly offered special courses on milk at the dairy school in Sonthofen. In 1876 he was appointed head of the first German milk economically - chemical experimental station and higher dairy Institute by Raden at Lalendorf (Mecklenburg). 1882 he was appointed " Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Professor ".

1886 Fleischmann followed a reputation as a full professor at the University of Königsberg and took over the management of the Agricultural Institute. In 1886 he founded at the University of Königsberg, a laboratory for chemistry and bacteriology of milk. 1894/95 he was elected Rector of the University of Königsberg. In 1896 he was appointed Full Professor of Agriculture and Director of the Agricultural Institute as well as director of the mitübersiedelten from Königsberg Laboratory for chemistry and bacteriology of milk to the University of Göttingen. Here he acts up until 1912.

Research and teaching

Fleischmann was one of the first agricultural scientist who recognized the importance of basic scientific research for the cattle and for the dairy industry. Translating this knowledge into reality he made his life's work. He developed new methods of investigation, including a formula for calculating the dry matter of milk from its specific gravity and fat content. Numerous experimental studies provided new insights into the chemical composition of the milk, as well as the bacteriological processes in the manufacture of dairy products.

His fundamental research, documented in nearly 250 publications, Fleischmann was for several decades as the leading dairy expert in Germany and already during his lifetime as the founder of Dairy Science. His main research work is the first published in 1893 "Textbook of the dairy industry ," which has been to 1932, six more times reissued in revised form in each case. Following the example of Julius Kühn - - Although as a researcher in the field of dairy science an outstanding specialist, Fleischmann as a university teacher has always still considered agricultural apprenticeship as an encyclopedic science. He not only gave lectures on dairy farming, but also on animal breeding, feeding teaching, Farm Management, Agricultural Policy, and during his time in Göttingen also on agricultural history. As an agricultural historian, he has emerged with several writings on agriculture among the Romans.

Fleischmann's autobiographical records in 1942 Alfred Schuler published under the title " Wilhelm Fleischmann. The founder of dairy science. His memoirs and his life's work ." This book, with a complete bibliography of publications Fleischmanns is a remarkable document for the university and the history of science with timeless examples of the so very human behavior of colleagues in academic teaching and research activities.

Honors and Awards

Fleischmann, Privy Councillor since 1894, was twice awarded an honorary doctorate: 1911 by the University of Agricultural Sciences in Vienna and 1918 from the Technical University of Munich. The following organizations made ​​him an honorary member in 1876 of the Agricultural Association in Bavaria, 1886, the Agricultural University in Amsterdam, 1886 Ostpreußische Dairy Association, 1895, the Royal Agricultural Society of England and in 1912, the Dairy Association. He also received numerous awards include the 1876 Knights Cross of the Austrian Franz Joseph Order, 1886 the Grand Ducal Mecklenburgisch - Schwerinischen Order of the Griffon with Knight's Cross and in 1888 the Prussian Red Eagle Order 2nd Class ( 1911 loop).

2013 was dedicated to Wilhelm Fleischmann by one of his descendants a new species of bacteria ( Listeria fleischmannii sp. Nov. ), Which was discovered on cheese.

Books and writings

• Determining the size of the force of gravity. Diss phil Tübingen 1861.
• Chemistry and agriculture. To progress in the field of agriculture. Publisher Wilhelm Ludwig Lindau iB = 1869 Agricultural Lectures H. 1
• About the hairdryer and the disappearance of the ice age, in: the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its surroundings, 1 born 1869, pp. 130-138 ( digitized )
• Report on the activity of the meteorological section of the December 10, 1868 to Sept. 13, 1869, in: the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its surroundings, 2 Vol 1870, pp. 93-95 ( digitized )

• Dairying. A book for practitioners and researchers. Verlag Vieweg Braunschweig 1875.
• Psychrometer tables for calculating the relative moisture content of the air in cheese cellars. Publisher Heinsius Bremen in 1877; 2nd edition 1888; 3rd edition, 1895; 4th Edition, 1922; 5th edition 1931.
• The preparation of brick cheeses from centrifuges skim milk. Publisher Heinsius Bremen in 1884; 2nd edition, 1890.
• Textbook of dairy farming. Publisher Heinsius Bremen in 1893; 2nd edition 1898 ibid.; 3rd edition 1901 ibid.; 4th edition 1908 ibid.; 5th ed Verlag Paul Parey Berlin 1915; 6th edition ibid. 1920; 7 completely new Edit. Edition, edited by H. Weigmann. Verlag Paul Parey Berlin 1932 -. Translations in English, Russian and Spanish languages ​​.
• Modern agriculture in their emergence and Albrecht Daniel Thaer. Private pressure Göttingen 1902 -. Zugl. In: Journal of Agriculture Vol 50, 1902, p.113 - 139th
• Be old and ancient Roman agrarian relations in their relationships and contradictions. Heinsius, Leipzig 1906.
• Caesar, Tacitus, Charlemagne and the German agriculture. Verlag Paul Parey Berlin 1911.
• De vel curtis imperii Capitulare villis Caroli Magni or the estates of Procedure Emperor Charles the Great. Newly translated and provided with explanations. Verlag Paul Parey Berlin 1919.
• Wilhelm Fleischmann. The founder of dairy science. His memoirs and his life's work. Published by Alfred Schuler. Publisher of dairy newspaper Hildesheim 1942.