Otto Krümmel (8 July 1854 – 12 October 1912) 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 Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

Biography

He was born in Exin,

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

, and was educated principally at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, where he was a student of Johann Eduard Wappäus and Karl von Seebach. He approached the subject of geography at first through the study of

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and history. In 1882/83 he was associated with the German Naval Observatory in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

(full professor in 1884, rector 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. 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 oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

(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 left Kiel to take up the professorship of geography at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

as the successor of Theobald Fischer. He died in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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