Walther_Schoenichen
Walther Schoenichen
German biologist
Walther Schoenichen (July 18, 1876 in Cologne – November 22, 1956 in Göppingen) was a German biologist and a prominent proponent of nature conservation within Nazi Germany.
Schoenichen studied natural sciences in Halle and obtained his doctorate in 1898. From 1898 to 1913, he worked as a teacher.[1]
In 1922 Schoenichen became manager of the Staatlichen Stelle für Naturdenkmalpflege in Preußen (State Office for Prussian Nature Preservation).
In 1942, he published his magnum opus, Naturschutz als völkische und internationale Kulturaufgabe (Nature Conservation as a National and International Cultural Task).
Schoenichen was an antisemite for much of his career, writing in 1926 that "[the German] people face a decline in racial hygiene", and described advertising billboards as an "infection with Jewish toxin." In 1932, Schoenichen joined the Nazi Party and became director of the Reichstelle für Naturschutz (Reich Department of Conservation) in 1942.[2]
In 1948, three years after the Second World War, Schoenichen moved to Goslar. From 1949 until his death, he was a professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig.