Reinhold Hermann Hans Tüxen (born 21 May 1899 in Ulsnis (Schleswig-Holstein); died 16 May 1980 in Rinteln) was a German botanist and plant sociologist. Along with Erich Oberdorfer, he was one of the early promoters and founders of modern plant sociology in Germany. His botanical author's abbreviation is Tüxen; in plant sociology, the abbreviation Tx. is also in use.
During the Third Reich Tüxen mapped the flora at Auschwitz for the plan of the SS model city of Auschwitz, as a pilot project for the integration of a conquered city. Here "German plants" were to form a border between the residential city and the extermination camp. However, in 1942 he was removed as chairman of the German working group for plant sociology due to a lack of Nazi Party membership and alleged political unreliability.
Early life and education Reinhold Tüxen was born as the son of the teacher Hermann Christian Tüxen and his wife Anna Catharina Tüxen (née Lüthge). He grew up in the rural north of Schleswig-Holstein, in the Schleiregion of fishing, between the cities of Schleswig and Kappeln, where the Nordschau, a rural beech forest, was one of the most intimate play and discovery areas in his childhood . This childlike character was at the beginning of a scientific career that ultimately made Reinhold Tüxen one of the pioneers of plant sociology. Tüxen put 1917 Notabitur and then participated in World War I. In 1926, shortly after receiving his doctorate in biology, he married Johanna Berger. The couple had three sons: Jes Tüxen (1929–2015), who was to become an important moor botanist, Fritz Tüxen and Hans Tüxen. The family lived first in Hannover, later in Stolzenau on the Weser and when Tüxen retired in 1963, Rinteln.
Early scientific career Tüxen studied from 1919 to 1925, initially also art, but then focused on chemistry, botany and geology in Heidelberg, then plant sociology with Josias Braun-Blanquet at the ETH Zurich and in Montpellier. The contact with Braun-Blanquet, who is considered to be the actual founder of plant sociology, is likely to have shaped the further direction of Tüxen's work. Over the following decades they were close friends and went on several research trips together.
In 1926, Tüxen received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg with a thesis on 1,5-naphthalene disulfone hydrazide and 1,5-naphthalene disulfonazide and its behavior towards malonic esters with Theodor Curtius, however, with a classical chemical thesis summa cum laude. From 1925 he built the Provincial Agency for Nature Conservation at the Landesmuseum Hannover. In 1927, he founded the Floristic-Sociological Working Group in Lower Saxony in Göttingen, which was expressly intended to bring together scientists and interested laypeople, and from 1928 onwards it published its own journal, the communications of the Floristic-Sociological Working Group.
In 1929 he completed his habilitation at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover on the subject of grassland associations in Northwest Germany. There, in May 1931, he founded the department for theoretical and applied plant sociology at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover. Even in this early phase of his work, Tüxen worked intensively on vegetation mapping, which was to remain one of his most important scientific tools throughout his life, and laid the foundations for his pioneering work in the field of plant sociology. By 1934, he and his colleagues completed a vegetation mapping of large parts of northern Germany on 75 map sheets at a scale of 1: 25,000.
In the German Reich from 1933 to 1945 In 1933 he was commissioned by Governor (1886–1958) to map the vegetation of the entire province of Hannover. Looking back, Tüxen said that this task marked the breakthrough in German plant sociology as a discipline. He was able to correlate scientific objectives with practical requirements by inferring from his results the optimal economic use of an area (e.g. grassland management). Alwin Seifert, who, as a realm landscape attorney, was supposed to connect the planned motorways with the German landscape, needed a botanist. This first had to map the existing vegetation of the planned routes.R. Tüxen: Aus der Arbeitsstelle für theoretische und angewandte Pflanzensoziologie der Tierärztl. Hochschule Hannover. Ein Tätigkeitsbericht von Reinhold Tüxen. (Sonderdruck aus dem 92. und 93. Jahresbericht der ). Hannover 1942. S. 74/75 Then Tüxen should take into account in his proposals which plants should be considered indigenous in the sense of the blood and soil ideology, and which corresponded best to the existing climatic and soil conditions. The aim was to keep the maintenance effort for the planted vegetation as low as possible due to the resilience based on the selection. The selection was based on ideological and scientific criteria.C. Vierle: Camillo Schneider. Dendrologe und Gartenbauschriftsteller. Eine Studie zu seinem Leben und Werk. (Materialien zur Geschichte der Gartenkunst Bd. 4). Berlin 1998. S. 62; : Der Westwall in der Landschaft. Aktivitäten des Naturschutzes in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus und seine Akteure. Mainz 2015. S. 45 Organizationally, this resulted in an alliance with National Socialist road construction.A. Seifert: Ein Leben für die Landschaft. Düsseldorf, Köln 1962. S. 71/72; R. Tüxen: Aus der Arbeitsstelle für theoretische und angewandte Pflanzensoziologie der Tierärztl. Hochschule Hannover. Ein Tätigkeitsbericht von Reinhold Tüxen. (Sonderdruck aus dem 92. und 93. Jahresbericht der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft zu Hannover). Hannover 1942. S. 74/75
It gave Tüxen access to the elites of the Third Reich and was decisive for his personal advancement, as well as for that of the subject of plant sociology in Germany. Fritz Todt, the inspector general for German roads who was responsible for motorway construction under Adolf Hitler, relied on Tüxen.Abschrift: Der Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen Nr. 2228/3-59 A 20.40. Berlin W8, den 4. Februar 1939. Streckenkartierung und Ingenieurbiologie. Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden Abt. 485 Nr. 138b. S. 1/2 When Todt was ordered to accelerate the construction of the western wall in 1938, Tüxen also used his methods and suggestions for planting and thus camouflaging the bunkers.H. Singer (Hrsg.): Entwicklung und Einsatz der Organisation Todt. Bd. I und II. (Quellen zur Geschichte der Organisation Todt). Osnabrück 1998. S. 3/ Brief: W. Hirsch an A. Seifert vom 8.3.1939. 3 S. Akte F1b/130. Bestand A. Seifert in der TU München. S. 1
Before that, he was involved in the planning of the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg. In 1936/1937, Tüxen made suggestions for the selection of the lawn mixture, which had to be optimally adapted to the loads of the marches carried out there, as well as for the planting of the area. I.a. his vote for an oak-birch forest led to the planting of around 42,000 deciduous trees, mostly oaks between the ages of 2–60 years. They replaced parts of the older park and local recreation facility. In addition, Tüxen recommended planting gorse, aspen, and birch to give the newly created SA camp a forest-like character.A. Schmidt: Gleichgeschaltete Landschaft – zum Umgang mit Natur und Landschaft beim Bau des Reichsparteitagsgeländes in Nürnberg. In: N. Franke, K. Werk (Hrsg.): Naturschutz am ehemaligen Westwall. NS-Großanlagen im Diskurs. Geisenheimer Beiträge zur Kulturlandschaft Bd. 1). Mainz 2016. In 1937 at the latest there was a substantive relationship with the forest administration. Because on 25 October 1937, the examination subject plant sociology was introduced into the new study regulations for forest science. According to Hermann Göring's will, the forest trainees were to learn which tree species could be used to rejuvenate and reforest German forests.Der Reichsforstmeister an den Reichsminister für Finanzen. Berlin W 8, den 2. August 1939. In: Bundesarchiv Berlin R 2 RFM 4654. S. 1
In 1937, Tüxen published The Plant Societies of Northwest Germany, which remained a standard work for plant sociologists in the region and in the Netherlands for decades. In 1938 the floristic-sociological working group in Lower Saxony was merged into the German working group for plant sociology as part of the coordination of numerous organizations in the German Reich. Tüxen initially remained chairman of the working group, but was replaced by Erwin Aichinger in 1941 due to a lack of NSDAP membership and alleged political unreliability. In 1942 the working group was forced to dissolve.
In 1939, Tüxen achieved a further institutionalization of his field of work: he became head of the newly established Central Office for Vegetation Mapping of the Reich. In the same year he received an extraordinary professorship at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. In addition, he began in Hannover to set up one of the first botanical gardens based on the knowledge of plant sociology.
When the Second World War broke out, Tüxen was drafted into military service. However, the protection of the Reich Forestry Office enabled him to leave the military in the same year and return to his work.Liebe Kameraden: [Rundschreiben von W. Hirsch an die Landschaftsanwälte.] 22.10.1939. 4 S. Akte F1b/130. Bestand A. Seifert in der TU München. S. 4 The basis was presumably a decision that Hermann Göring had already made in June 1939 in his role as Reichsforstmeister: jobs for vegetation mapping were to be integrated into the forest management offices. The most important one should be set up in Hannover at the Central Office for Vegetation Mapping of the Reich, i.e. near Tüxen, if it should also remain subordinate to the Kassel Forestry Agency.Der Reichsforstmeister. Zeichen II 4529. Berlin, den … Juni 1939. [Leider ohne genaues Datum]. In: Bundesarchiv R 2 RFM 4740. S. 1–4 In August he then apparently handed this staff over directly to Tüxen, with the task of carrying out a vegetation mapping of the entire German Reich.Der Reichsforstmeister II /P7062 an den Herrn Reichsminister für Finanzen in Berlin. Berlin, den 25. August 1939. In: Bundesarchiv R 2 RFM 4740. S. 1 After the major territorial gains of the Axis Powers in Eastern Europe, Tüxen's position was given even more tasks, including mapping the vegetation around the Auschwitz concentration camp. He noted himself: In the vicinity of Auschwitz (East Upper Silesia) a vegetation mapping was made of a larger area as the basis for the reorganization of all economic conditions. (* 24, editor, Miss von Rochow, Sauer, Tx., 1:25 000).R. Tüxen: Aus der Arbeitsstelle für theoretische und angewandte Pflanzensoziologie der Tierärztl. Hochschule Hannover. Ein Tätigkeitsbericht von Reinhold Tüxen. (Sonderdruck aus dem 92. und 93. Jahresbericht der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft zu Hannover). Hannover 1942. S. 78/79