Otto Krümmel (8 July 1854 in Exin, Province of Posen – 12 October 1912 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

) was a German

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

influential in awakening public interest in oceanography.

Biography

He was educated principally at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, where he was a student of Johann Eduard Wappäus and

Karl von Seebach Karl Albert Ludwig von Seebach (13 August 1839, Weimar – 21 January 1880, Göttingen) was a German geologist known for his studies in the field of volcanology. He studied geology and paleontology at Breslau as a pupil of Ferdinand von Roem ...

. He approached the subject of geography at first through the study of classics and history. In 1882/83 he was associated with the German Naval Observatory in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and in 1883, became an associate professor of geography at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

(full professor in 1884,

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

1897/98).Krümmel, Otto
In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, , S. 109 f. In that seaport he found the connection of his subject with marine investigations which directed his subsequent career. Atlantikströmungen 1883

He remained at Kiel until 1911, and during his tenure of it he introduced the science of oceanography to public interest through his handbook ''Der Ozean'' (1886), completed Heinrich Georg von Boguslawski's work on oceanography in

Friedrich Ratzel Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 – August 9, 1904) was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term ''Lebensraum'' ("living space") in the sense that the National Socialists later would. Life Ratzel's father was th ...

's series of geographical handbooks (1887), joined, and published an account of, the “Plankton Expedition” on board the ''National'' in the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

(1889), served on the International Council for the Study of the Sea (1900-9), and finally produced the great work of his life, the ''Handbuch der Ozeanographie'', in 1907-11. In 1911, Krümmel quit Kiel to take up the professorship of geography at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

as the successor of Theobald Fischer.

Notes

References

External links

* 1854 births 1912 deaths People from Kcynia People from the Province of Posen German oceanographers University of Göttingen alumni University of Kiel faculty University of Marburg faculty {{Germany-scientist-stub