In 1979,

Loki Schmidt Hannelore "Loki" Schmidt (; 3 March 1919 – 21 October 2010) was a German teacher and environmentalist. She was the wife of Helmut Schmidt, who was the Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982. Life and work Hannelore Glaser was born in 1919 in ...

(1919–2010), the spouse of former German Federal chancellor

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Cha ...

, founded the ' ("Foundation for the protection of endangered plants") which became the ' ("Foundation Nature Conservancy Hamburg and for the protection of endangered plants") in 1985. One of the main purposes of this organisation is a public awareness campaign about the ecological value of wildflowers. This campaign which celebrate a wildflower of the year was established in 1980. The announcement for the flower of the year is often published in October and events to protect the critically endangered,

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

or vulnerable wildflowers are organised. In 2003, Schmidt published a book about this campaign with watercolour illustrations of the plants by herself and a foreword titled "With Loki's eyes" written by

Siegfried Lenz Siegfried Lenz (; 17 March 19267 October 2014) was a German writer of novels, short stories and essays, as well as dramas for radio and the theatre. In 2000 he received the Goethe Prize on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's bi ...

List of wildflowers announced as Flower of the Year in Germany

References

* *{{cite web , url=http://www.stiftung-naturschutz-hh.de/blumedj.htm , title=Blume des Jahres , trans-title=Flower of the Year , language=German , publisher=Stiftung Naturschutz Hamburg und Stiftung Loki Schmidt , accessdate=October 21, 2011 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028102329/http://www.stiftung-naturschutz-hh.de/blumedj.htm , archivedate=October 28, 2011

External links

Official website of the Loki Schmidt Stiftung that initiated the Flower of the Year Campaign
Lists of endangered species Lists of biota of Germany