First female professor in Germany  [13.01.23]

This had never happened before in Germany: 100 years ago, the first woman was appointed to a full professorship at the University of Hohenheim: Margarete von Wrangell. She founded the Institute for Plant Nutrition. "My institute is a creation that will remain of lasting value and use. I know what I am fighting for," she wrote to her mother after her appointment. She was right: To this day, the Institute is a renowned scientific institution. In the anniversary year, we will present Hohenheim women in science every month. We start with a special issue on Margarete von Wrangell.

Margarete von Wrangell was born in Moscow in 1877 and grew up in Reval (today Tallinn) in Estonia. After school she became a science teacher - but this life did not fill her up. "Is there really nothing gripping, living, life-rewarding?” Oh yes, there is! A summer course in botany at the University of Greifswald awakens Margarete's enthusiasm for academic studies.

She enquired about study opportunities in Germany - initially without success. "I got the answer from Marburg that the botanist there was opposed to women's studies and would not allow a lady to attend his lectures and exercises under any circumstances," she reports.

Finally, Tübingen proved to be a suitable city for Margaret's studies. In the summer semester of 1904, she begins to study botany and chemistry. "In chemistry and in the practical work at the Botanical Institute, I was the only lady, otherwise there were always three of us," she recalls. During her studies, she turned more and more to chemistry and finally earned her doctorate in chemistry in Tübingen with summa cum laude.

Scientific Stages

After her doctorate, she pursued an immense range of scientific interests and worked with leading international scientists: She first researched with William Ramsay in London, then at the Chemical Institute in Strasbourg and then with Marie Curie in Paris.

In 1912 she returned to Reval. As head of the experimental station there, she put scientific findings into practice in agriculture. Her scientific interest lay in the production of fertiliser. Her work came to an abrupt end with the Russian October Revolution. Von Wrangell refuses to place the experimental station under the control of the revolutionaries - and is imprisoned by the Bolsheviks.

After the invasion of German troops, she was freed, but: "My profession was over. She could no longer expect to work as a scientist in the Baltic States in the near future".

Von Wrangell in Hohenheim

So she emigrated to Germany - and came to Hohenheim. Here von Wrangell researches phosphoric acid. After all, agriculture was already profiting from mineral fertilisers at the time. But Germany is still dependent on imports for the production of phosphorus fertilisers. This dependence becomes particularly problematic during World War 1. "I found out that German soils don't need as much phosphoric acid as assumed," explains Margarete von Wrangell. "And: the phosphoric acid capital of the soils can be mobilised!".

Her results are causing quite a stir. Phosphoric acid fertilisation in Germany can be reduced considerably. In 1920 she is habilitated in Hohenheim - the first Hohenheim habilitation ever!

The pioneering researcher uses her popularity to establish important contacts in politics and industry. One year later, the Reich Minister of Nutrition provides Hohenheim with 75 million marks for research on plant nutrition - tied to Margarete von Wrangell. And she insists on becoming the director of a new institute. This meets with resistance in Hohenheim: they want to use the money for other purposes. But Margarete von Wrangell gets her way and is finally appointed full professor!

She researched at her institute for almost ten years: "I lived with the plants. I put my ear to the ground and it seemed to me that the plants were happy to tell me something about the secrets of growth".

Text: Hagenau | Translation: International Office