History and origins of the DGaaE

Prof. Dr Karl Escherich (1871–1951)

The DGaaE was created in 1976 from the merger of the DEG (German Entomological Society) and the DGaE (German Society for Applied Entomology). The forerunner of DEG was founded in 1856 at the instigation of the beetle researcher Dr Gustav Kraatz as the Entomological Society of Berlin. In 1881, the entomologists whose research interest was mainly focused on beetles joined together within this association under the name of Deutsche Entomologische Gesellschaft. From 1857 on, the Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift was published as a scientific journal, which still exists today as the Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift.

The DGaE was founded in 1913 by the forest entomologist Prof. Dr Karl Escherich.

In the post-war period, mainly hobby entomologists had organised themselves in the DEG, while professional entomologists united in the DGaE. This separation became increasingly unclear over time as more and more entomologists were members of both societies. Therefore, since 1956 there have been discussions about merging the two societies. The protracted merger negotiations were started in 1969 and ended in 1976 with the unification to the DGaaE.

In the past decades there have been several efforts by individual members to rename the society. This was passionately debated at the general meetings. But a renaming has not yet able to gain a majority. A particular advantage of the somewhat unwieldy name and abbreviation is also its unique selling point: if you enter DGaaE in a search engine, you will immediately find us. If you type in DEG, for example, results will be much less relevant.

Schumann, H. (1992): Zur Geschichte der Deutschen Entomologischen Gesellschaft. – DGaaE-Nachr. 6(3): 104–116
Godan, D. (1992): Erinnerungen an die Entstehung der „Deutschen Gesellschaft für allgemeine und angewandte Entomologie – DGaaE-Nachr. 6(4): 129–135
Anonymous (1993): Ergänzungen und Berichtigungen zu D. Godan: Erinnerungen an die Entstehung der DGaaE. – DGaaE-Nachr. 7(3): 104–105

Elected Presidents

Presidents of the DGaaE

tenure of office

Prof. Dr Heinrich Johannes Schmutterer

1976–1980

Prof. Dr Berndt Heydemann

1980–1986

Prof. Dr Fred Klingauf

1986–1989

Prof. Dr Werner Funke

1989–1993

Prof. Dr Erich Dickler

1993–1999

Prof. Dr Konrad Dettner

1999–2005

Prof. Dr Gerald B. Moritz

2005–2011

Prof. Dr Rainer Willmann

2011–2017

PD Dr Jürgen Gross

since 2017

 

The library of Dr h.c. Alfons M. J. Evers: New home at the State Museum of Natural History in Karlsruhe

The DGaaE received an extensive library of journals and monographs from the estate of the late Dr Evers (born 09.07.1918 in Amsterdam, died 18.03.1998 in Krefeld). This was on permanent loan for some time to the Biosystematic Documentation Section of the University of Ulm. This is also where the titles were recorded. A list of the holdings can be found here (in German).

The support service contract had to be cancelled by the Ulm University due to critical financial, stuff and spatial situation. A relocation of the invaluable library to the State Museum of Natural History in Karlsruhe was made possible due to commitment of Prof. Dr Konrad Dettner and Prof. Dr. Gerald Moritz and kind assistance of Mr. Müller-Arens, an assistant director of ministry of culture of the State of Baden-Württemberg, as well as cooperation of the museums in Stuttgart (Prof. Dr. Johanna Eder) and Karlsruhe (Prof. Dr. Volkmar Wirth). The solution was made on the basis of an analysis of the inventory and emerging duplicates and under consideration of the user rules made up by Dr Evers. If you would like to access the library, please contact the DGaaE office.

A biography and a list of publications of Dr Evers can be found on the website of the Rhine coleopterologists.