Historical figures

Germany's 1st female professor

* 7 January 1877 in Moscow | † 21 March 1932 in Hohenheim

On 1 January 1923, Margarete Baroness von Wrangell was not only appointed as the first female professor in Hohenheim – she was also the first female full professor at a German university. Before she started, the trained agricultural chemist had to deal not only with the unrest of her time but also with a scientific environment that at the time was very hostile to women. The focus of her research was studies on phosphate fertilizing, and until her death in 1932 she directed the Institute of Plant Nutrition.

In 1934, a memorial stone with the scientists’ academic motto was erected: “I lived with the plants. I put my ear to the ground and it seemed as if the plants were glad to be able to tell something about the secrets of growth.”

The Margarete von Wrangell Habilitation Program is named after her.

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Hohenheim student, Japanese agronomist, entrepreneur, parliamentarian and minister, Minister of Trade and Agriculture in Japan

* 10 February 1870 in Mano (present-day Sado / Japan) | † 14 December 1937 in Tokyo

The aristocratic Yamamoto studied agriculture at the Hohenheim Agricultural Academy from 1887 to 1893 and received his doctorate from the University of Leipzig in 1894. Back in Japan, he was involved as a businessman in the establishment of the private Japanese sugar industry and the modernization of agriculture. As a member of the House of Representatives from 1904 to 1936 and as Minister of Agriculture, he worked to dismantle feudal agricultural production structures and promote the modernization of agriculture with the goal of making Japan self-sufficient. Throughout his life - also as president of the German-Japanese Association (from 1929) - he remained closely connected with Germany. Highly honored, he died in Tokyo in 1937.

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Professor of Agronomy, outstanding expert in the field of crop production science

* 31 August 1862 in Vienna | † 21 July 1930 in Baden (Lower Austria)

Carl Fruwirth studied at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences and at the University of Vienna. In 1892, he completed his habilitation at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, and in 1897, Fruwirth accepted an appointment as full Professor of Agronomy at the Hohenheim Agricultural Academy. His specialties were crop production science, plant breeding, history of agriculture, and agricultural machinery science. The Royal Württemberg State Plant Breeding Institute in Hohenheim, founded in 1905, can be traced back to him. In this way, he was able to set up a functioning private plant breeding program in Württemberg with variety testing and seed certification in a short time. In 1907, Fruwirth returned to Austria, to the Technical University in Vienna. Fruwirth's scientific work was extensive and varied. However, he was not only a seed expert and plant breeder, but is also considered one of the most competent crop scientists of his time.

Fruwirthstrasse in Stuttgart-Hohenheim is named after him.

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Hohenheim Student, Bismarck attempted assassin

* 25 March 1844 in Mannheim  | † 8 May 1866 in Berlin

Ferdinand Cohen-Blind, a child of supporters of the Baden Revolution of 1848/49, had to flee with his parents after the failure of the revolution. He returned to Germany from exile in London in 1862 and initially studied as a guest student at the University of Tübingen. From 1864, he studied at the Hohenheim Academy of Agriculture and Forestry with excellent results.

After completing his studies at Hohenheim, he decided in the spring of 1866 that he had to oppose the "fratricidal war" (Prussia against the German Confederation and Austria) for supremacy in Germany, which was being waged by Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck. On 7 May 1866, he shot the Prussian Prime Minister von Bismarck in Berlin on the open street.

Von Bismarck survived with bruised ribs. Cohen-Blind killed himself in jail in the night after the assassination attempt. After his death, Ferdinand Cohen-Blind became a symbol for the liberal south of Germany threatened by Prussia: In Swabia, he was celebrated as a “second William Tell.”

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Professor of Chemistry and Agricultural Chemistry
Director of the Agricultural Academy of Hohenheim 1882-84

* 30 August 1818 in Flensburg  | † 26 November 1896 in Stuttgart

Emil Wolff studied in Kiel, Berlin, and Halle and, from 1851, set up the world's first state agricultural research station in Leipzig-Möckern. In 1853, the agricultural chemist accepted an appointment to the Royal Württemberg Academy of Agriculture and Forestry in Hohenheim. He researched and taught at Hohenheim for 40 years (1854 to 1894). in 1865, he succeeded in establishing the Agricultural Experiment Station in Hohenheim. Alongside Justus von Liebig (1803 - 1873), he played a key role in shaping the development of plant and animal nutrition in Central Europe in the second half of the 19th century. Wolff died in Stuttgart at the age of 78.

Emil-Wolff-Strasse in Stuttgart-Hohenheim is named after him.

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Founding director of Hohenheim

* 11 June 1759 in Koblenz  | † 11 December 1844 in Koblenz

Johann Nepomuk Hubert von Schwerz is considered the main representative of the empirical-rational school of agricultural theory. He acquired his extensive agricultural knowledge through self-study and deepened it on many study trips. At the suggestion of Albrecht Daniel Thaer, he entered Prussian service in 1816 and rose to the rank of Prussian Regierungsrat. In 1818, King William I of Württemberg appointed him as the first director of the new Württemberg Agricultural Institute in Hohenheim, which he officially opened on 20 November 1818. In 1828, Schwerz resigned from his post as director of the Hohenheim Institute. He spends the last years of his life in his native city of Koblenz, where he died at the age of 85.

Schwerzstrasse in Stuttgart-Hohenheim is named after him.

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Founders of the university’s predecessor

King William I of Württemberg
* 27 September 1781 in Lüben / Silesia | † 25 June 1864 in Cannstatt

Catherine Pavlovna
* 21 May 1788 Tsarskoye Selo  | † 9 January 1819 in Stuttgart

In 1816/17, William I of Württemberg, who had just ascended to the Württemberg throne, and his wife, the tsar's daughter Catherine Pavlovna, were confronted with a famine catastrophe - and reacted immediately. In 1817, Catherine founded various institutions to provide emergency aid. Wilhelm also sought to strengthen Württemberg economically in the long-term. A central agricultural association was founded, the main agricultural festival was established, and on 20 November 1818, the Hohenheim Agricultural Teaching, Experimental, and Model Institute was founded, which later became the University of Hohenheim. Only a few months later, Katharina died unexpectedly on 9 January 1819. King William reigned for 48 years, during which time he transformed Württemberg from a backward agrarian state into a constitutional state. When William I died at Rosenstein Castle in Cannstatt in 1864, his kingdom was already on the threshold of industrialization.

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The builders of Hohenheim

Carl Eugen:
* 11 February 1728 in Brussels | † 24 October 1793 in Hohenheim

Franziska:
* 10 January 1748 in Adelsmannfelden | † 1 January 1811 in Kirchheim/Teck

Humanist and physician with Hohenheim roots